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Qatar National Bank (QNB) group said that secular deflationary forces, particularly from technological progress, automation, and the digitization of services, are expected to remain dominant over the long term, but they are increasingly being punctuated by short, sharp episodes of inflation driven by supply shocks associated with geopolitical tensions, green transition costs, and policy uncertainty.In it weekly commentary, QNB pointed that global economy is no longer anchored in a stable inflationary or deflationary regime, but rather navigating a new era marked by structural volatility.According to QNB, prices changes of key baskets of goods and services are some of the most closely watched metrics in macroeconomics, alongside economic growth. They are crucial indicators of economic health, affecting everything from purchasing power and household confidence to investment decisions and monetary policy.While some level of price appreciation (inflation) is a normal and even desirable feature of a growing economy, both excessive inflation and outright price declines (deflation) can cause significant distortions and long-lasting damage, QNB said.Moderate inflation, like the one observed during the period of the so-called Great Moderation (1990-2007) in most advanced economies, typically reflects a vibrant economy that delivers well balanced growth. However, when inflation becomes excessive and persistent, it erodes real incomes, compresses profit margins, and destabilizes financial markets. It also compels central banks to respond with aggressive policy tightening, which can trigger recessions or financial stress, The Bank added.Conversely, deflation, the sustained decline in the general price level or much lower than normal inflation, is often a symptom of deeper structural weakness, such as depressed demand, financial deleveraging, or demographic stagnation, QNB noted.Falling prices may appear positive on the surface, but they can discourage consumption, delay investment, increase real debt burdens, and trap economies in a vicious cycle of low growth and weak confidence, it added.QNB cited Japan's experience in the 1990s and early 2000s as a cautionary tale of the long-term consequences of entrenched deflation, pointing that the same is also true for other major economies following the Great Financial Crisis in 2007-08.Relatedly, the bank noted, following a period when pandemic-related supply side shocks triggered much higher than normal inflation, there is little consensus on whether inflation or deflation are going to be major driving forces over the medium- or longer-term.The weekly commentary pointed that some analysts highlight that one of the key reasons inflation has re-emerged as a central economic concern lies in the unravelling of several structural forces that underpinned the "Great Moderation."During that time, a confluence of factors helped supress price pressures and stabilize macroeconomic volatility: deepening globalization fostered cheaper imports and offshoring; relative geopolitical stability ensured open trade routes and capital flows; supply chain integration enabled just-in-time production with minimal inventory costs; and the rise of rational, technocratic politicians and government officials who contributed to anchor economic expectations through credible policies and transparency, QNB said.The Covid pandemic exposed the fragility of over-optimized supply chains, prompting a shift toward reshoring and redundancy that carries higher cost structure, it added.Combined with demographic pressures (less people working to sustain more people not working), green transition costs, and strategic competition over critical technologies, these reversals support the argument of some analysts about a more inflation-prone environment ahead, in which price stability can no longer be taken for granted, the bank added.On the other hand, many analysts argue that it would be a mistake to assume that the post-Covid and Ukraine War era is uniformly inflationary. Powerful disinflationary forces are at play and accelerating, particularly those rooted in technological innovation.QNB considered that some geopolitical developments commonly viewed as inflationary - such as trade fragmentation - may actually have deflationary consequences under certain conditions.

A newly-acquired Bain Capital company in Japan that makes airplane seats, toilets and galleys is betting its US-based manufacturing hub will give it an advantage under President Donald Trump’s tariff regime.Armed with private equity cash, Jamco Corp’s new management is rebooting its aircraft seat business, chasing market share from rivals RTX Corp’s Collins Aerospace and France’s Safran SA, Executive Chair Kate Schaefer said in an interview.Supply chain issues that have seen wait times for cabin fittings blow out to as long as three years — forcing the likes of Delta Air Lines Inc and American Airlines Group Inc to ground newly delivered jets as they await seats — also present an opportunity to fill, Schaefer said.“Right now with everything that’s going on with tariffs, it appears to be an advantage in manufacturing and assembling these seats in the US,” she said. The company is also promising to deliver products in as little as six months.Jamco’s main production line is located near Boeing’s largest assembly line in Everett, just outside Seattle. The US has rolled out a raft of tariffs on global trading partners, with Japanese and European Union goods being levied at 15%, and up to 25% for India and 39% for Switzerland.Across the industry, carriers from Singapore Airlines Ltd to British Airways are spending hundreds of millions of dollars revamping seats as they upgrade cabins to lure more high-end travellers. Jamco plans to focus on higher-margin first-class and business seats, which can cost from $80,000 to $160,000 each depending on materials used and the level of customisation required.Jamco’s seat-making business struggled during Covid as global travel bans and border closures hammered the aviation industry. It paused research and development during the pandemic, but is restarting that under new management. Schaefer said the business has a slim orderbook but a factory and a workforce ready to go.Previously, Jamco counted the likes of Singapore Air and Dutch carrier KLM as top customers for its seats. Its other business units continue to make components and equipment like galleys for Boeing Co and Airbus SE jets.Jamco was bought by Bain in a $700mn buyout earlier this year. Like Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd., which delivered Bain a 3.5 times’ return on its initial investment when it listed the airline in June, the private equity firm says it aims to pursue an initial public offering of Jamco in a five-year timeframe. Bain is also actively looking for smaller complementary acquisitions to expand on Jamco’s current line of work.Bain’s Tokyo-based leadership who led the deal, Masa Suekane and Nick Gattas, sees Jamco as a “bet on the industry,” bolstered by the decade-long waitlist for new planes. Jamco aims to take advantage of the challenging ramp-up in widebody production by Boeing and Airbus as an “attractive” five-year window to win new business.

When her husband was arrested in an immigration raid near Los Angeles last month, “Martha” was abruptly separated from the father of her two daughters.She also lost the salary that allowed her to keep a roof over their heads."He's the pillar of the family... he was the only one working," said the undocumented woman, using a pseudonym for fear of reprisals. "He's no longer here to help us, to support me and my daughters."Los Angeles, where one-third of residents are immigrants – and several hundred thousand people are undocumented – has been destabilised by intensifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids under the Trump administration.Since returning to power, US President Donald Trump has delivered on promises to launch a wide-ranging deportation drive, targeting undocumented migrants but also ensnaring many others in its net.After her husband's arrest, 39-year-old Martha has joined the ranks of people barely managing to avoid ending up on the streets of Los Angeles County – a region with prohibitively high housing prices, and the largest number of homeless people in the United States outside New York.Her 700sq-foot apartment in Buena Park, a suburb of the California metropolis, costs $2,050 per month.After her husband's arrest, she urgently found a minimum-wage night job in a factory to cover their most pressing needs.It pays just enough to keep them afloat, but has left Martha unable to cover a range of obligations."I have to pay car insurance, phone, rent, and their expenses," she said, pointing to her six- and seven-year-old daughters, who need school supplies for the new academic year. "That's a lot of expenses."How long can she keep up this punishing schedule, which allows her barely three hours of sleep on returning from the factory before having to wake and look after her daughters?"I couldn't tell you," she said, staring blankly into space.Los Angeles has seen some of the worst of the ICE raids.Squads of masked agents have targeted hardware stores, car washes and bus stops, arresting more than 2,200 people in June.About 60% of these had no prior criminal records, according to internal ICE documents analysed by AFP.Trump's anti-immigration offensive is taking an added toll on Latino workers, who were already among the worst-affected victims of the region's housing crisis, said Andrea Gonzalez, deputy director of the CLEAN Carwash Workers Centre, a labour rights non-profit."A bigger storm is brewing. It's not just about the people that got picked up, it's about the people that are left behind as well," she said. "There is a concern that people are going to end up on the streets."Her organisation is helping more than 300 struggling households whose incomes have plummeted, either because a family member has been arrested or because they are too afraid to return to work.It has distributed more than $30,000 to help around 20 families who are unable to afford their rent, but covering everyone's needs is simply "not sustainable," said Gonzalez.Local Democratic Party leaders are trying to establish financial aid for affected families.Los Angeles County is planning a dedicated fund to tackle the problem, and city officials will also launch a fund using philanthropic donations rather than taxpayer money.Some families should receive "a couple hundred" dollars, Mayor Karen Bass said last month.However, for Gonzalez, these initiatives do not "even scratch the surface" of what is needed, representing less than 10% of most affected families' rent requirements.She called for a "moratorium on evictions" similar to one introduced during the early days of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.Otherwise, Los Angeles' homeless population – currently numbered at 72,000, which is down slightly in the past two years – risks rising again, she warned."What we're living through right now is an emergency," said Gonzalez.Maria Martinez's undocumented immigrant husband was arrested in June at a carwash in Pomona, a suburb east of Los Angeles.Since then, the 59-year-old has had to rely on help from her children to pay her $1,800 monthly rent.Her $1,000 disability allowance falls far short."It is stressful," she said. "We're just getting by."

Top White House economic advisers have defended President Donald Trump's firing of the head of the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS), pushing back against criticism that Trump's action could undermine confidence in official US economic data.US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CBS that Trump had "real concerns" about the data, while Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said the president "is right to call for new leadership”.Hassett said on Fox News that the main concern was Friday's BLS report of net downward revisions showing 258,000 fewer jobs had been created in May and June than previously reported.Trump accused BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer of faking the jobs numbers, without providing any evidence of data manipulation.The BLS compiles the closely watched employment report as well as consumer and producer price data.The BLS gave no reason for the revised data but noted "monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors”.McEntarfer responded to her abrupt dismissal on Friday in a post on the Bluesky social media platform, saying that it was "the honour of her life" to serve as BLS commissioner and praising the civil servants who work there.McEntarfer's firing added to growing concerns about the quality of US economic data published by the federal government and came on the heels of a raft of new US tariffs on dozens of trading partners, sending global stock markets tumbling as Trump presses ahead with plans to reorder the global economy."I think what we need is a fresh set of eyes at the BLS, somebody who can clean this thing up," Hassett said on *Fox News Sunday.In an interview with CBS's *Face the Nation, Greer acknowledged that there were always revisions of job numbers, "but sometimes you see these revisions go in really extreme ways”.Brian Moynihan, chief executive of the Bank of America, said that large revisions of economic data could undermine public confidence and that government officials should develop ways of improving data quality."They can get this data, I think, other ways and I think that's where the focus ought to be: how do we get the data to be more resilient and more predictable and more understandable?" he said on CBS. "Because what bounces around is restatements... that creates doubt about it."Critics, including former leaders of the BLS, slammed Trump's move and called on Congress to investigate McEntarfer's removal, saying that it would shake trust in a respected statistical agency."It undermines credibility," said William Beach, a former BLS commissioner and co-chair of the group Friends of the BLS."There is no way for a commissioner to rig the jobs numbers," he said. "Every year we've revised the numbers. When I was commissioner, we had a 500,000 job revision during President Trump's first term," he said on CNN's *State of the Union."And why do we do that? Because firms are created or firms go out of business, and we don't really know that during the course of the year, until we reconcile against a real full count of all the businesses."Former Treasury secretary Larry Summers, who worked in both the Clinton and Obama administrations, also criticised McEntarfer's firing."This is a preposterous charge. These numbers are put together by teams of literally hundreds of people following detailed procedures that are in manuals," Summers said on ABC's *This Week.The BLS surveys 121,000 employers – businesses and government agencies – each month, seeking their total payroll employment during the week in which the 12th day of the month falls.The response rate has fallen sharply over the last several years since the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, from 80.3% in October 2020 to about 67.1% in July.Knowing that, the BLS allows late-arriving employer submissions, and revisions to earlier submissions, to be taken into account over the next two months.That means each month's initial estimate of employment for the immediately preceding month also contains revisions to the two months before that as well, because by the third month the response rate has typically climbed to around 92%.The revisions in Friday's report were, however, large by historic standards.The downward revision of 125,000 jobs for May was the largest between a second estimate and third estimate since a 492,000 reduction for March 2020, which was the largest ever and was reported in June 2020 for the payrolls report for May 2020.Aside from that revision, Friday's revision for May was the largest for a change from the second estimate to the third estimate since a 127,000 job downward revision in March 1983, according to BLS data.

Japan’s main bourse is seeking to capitalise on the growth of strategies that enhance yield.Trades such as call overwriting — when investors who own shares sell bullish options to pocket the contracts’ premium — have become increasingly popular in Japan, and the Tokyo Stock Exchange now wants to enable listings of actively managed exchange-traded funds with over-the-counter derivatives.The bourse is asking an advisory body for guidance to take on ETFs that use non-listed instruments such as swaps and options, according to Kei Okazaki and Ryutaro Someya, managers at the new listings department of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. While listed funds can use options on Osaka’s derivatives exchange, OTC products are currently prohibited.The Tokyo exchange is seeking to get the Financial Services Agency’s nod to list such ETFs by next June, Okazaki and Someya said, adding that the change would help lower the cost of managing the funds. A representative for the FSA, which gives guidance for investment trusts and ETFs, declined to comment.Call overwriting — also known as the covered call strategy — is common across the world and is especially appealing in Japan, where interest rates remain some of the lowest among developed markets even after the central bank ended its years-long zero-rate policy. In the US, some actively managed ETFs with derivatives-driven strategies may also use OTC instruments.“Banks and insurers are seeking yield as they have to pay more in interest rates to their clients,” Okazaki said in an interview in Tokyo, explaining that covered call strategies offer regular and stable income. He expects the market for listed covered call products to expand to more than ¥1tn ($6.8bn) from the current ¥35bn.The bourse is also asking the regulator to allow ETFs that sell options to pay dividends with the premiums they receive, adding to investors’ returns, Okazaki also said.Call overwriting may be one of the most popular volatility trades globally, according to Georges Debbas, head of equity-derivatives strategy for Europe at BNP Paribas SA. At large institutions, the strategy is fully automated and growing, and several active ETFs are also using it, he said.The trade tends to do well in a falling or stable market but underperforms during strong rallies. In such cases, the sale of the contract caps equity gains, given that the buyer is likely to exercise the option, forcing the seller to part with the underlying shares.Some market watchers say call overwriting may dampen equity volatility and form temporary price resistance levels if a large open interest builds up at a particular strike and maturity. But fund managers that do the strategy systematically tend to spread out their trades to avoid clustering on certain contracts and to limit the strategy’s impact, according to Geoff Kirk, a manager at Premier Miton in London.“Asset managers doing systematic overwriting are very aware of market impact and pin risk,” Kirk said, referring to the uncertainty that comes when an option’s expiration price is close to its strike. “Banks also have quite strict risk limits so dealing desks will reject orders or just price to lose when they’re at capacity on a certain underlying.”In a June note, JPMorgan Chase & Co strategists said the trade performed well during the market selloff between February and April but lagged behind in the sharp rebound that followed, concluding that timing and selectivity are key.“The post-Covid growth in assets into covered-call ETFs that sell equity volatility for yield has continued a gradual ascent,” Tanvir Sandhu, Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief global derivatives strategist, wrote in a note last week. “The rationale for call overwriting is that selling call options can provide income, and on an expectation that the market rally is contained within the expiry time frame.”

“Poverty”, Aristotle famously observed, “is the parent of revolution and crime”. History has repeatedly proven the point: inequality often fuels political and social instability, giving rise to conflict and despair.Today, in the face of widening economic disparities and climate disruption, international co-operation on sustainable development is no longer just an expression of solidarity – it is a strategic imperative. Yet just as development challenges grow increasingly urgent, the resources to confront them are steadily declining.In 2015, world leaders adopted the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), outlining a shared vision for a more equitable, low-carbon future. Since then, however, overlapping global crises – from the Covid-19 pandemic to rising geopolitical tensions and escalating climate change – have reversed much of the progress made over the past 25 years.The realities of our increasingly multipolar world call for a shift in mindset. Policymakers must focus on doing more with less, which means fostering effective partnerships between the public and private sectors. This was my main takeaway from the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Seville, Spain: to meet climate and social targets, we must rethink how development is financed – and by whom.While every country relies on access to financing to manage crises, support growth, and provide essential services, this need is especially acute in developing countries, where investment in infrastructure and human capital is crucial to long-term progress.To achieve the SDGs, developing countries will need to raise roughly $4tn annually. With development budgets under pressure globally, it is clear that public funding alone is not enough, and that closing today’s investment gap requires mobilising private capital.Public budgets should serve as a catalyst, not a substitute, for private investment. That’s the thinking behind the European Union’s Global Gateway initiative, which focuses on creating the conditions necessary for sustainable financing. By combining guarantees, grants, and long-term loans, it aims to reduce risk, unlock private capital, and enable transformative investments in high-quality infrastructure projects, with a strong focus on education, job training, health, and climate resilience.At FfD4, for example, we signed a €75mn ($88mn) guarantee agreement with Spain’s COFIDES to expand off-grid energy access in underserved regions across Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Projects like these often cannot move forward without effective risk mitigation. By reducing financial exposure, EU guarantees help make long-term financing viable and more accessible.We are also developing innovative financing vehicles such as the Digital Leap Fund, which uses grants, guarantees, and first-loss equity to attract private investors to projects they might otherwise avoid. The goal is to mobilise up to €500mn for digital infrastructure, including 5G networks, data centres, and broadband connectivity.At the same time, we are working to remove barriers to investment. As a former international banker, I understand that investors tend to seek safe, long-term returns – the kind that well-designed development projects can offer. But they also need predictability, transparency, and robust regulatory frameworks.Our local partners, for their part, need the capacity to build value chains that align with their strengths and priorities. Too often, developing countries that produce or extract highly sought-after resources retain only a fraction of their final value. A cashew grown in Africa may be shipped to Asia for processing and then exported to Europe, delivering limited benefits to local communities while imposing a high environmental cost.The EU’s value-based model tackles this imbalance head-on by focusing on three key areas: job creation and investment in skills, education, inclusion, and sustainability; high-quality infrastructure; and supporting local ownership, governance reform, and stable investment conditions.This approach is already being implemented in Angola and Zambia, where we are helping to transform the Lobito Corridor – an EU-backed project to renovate the railway linking Angola to landlocked, mineral-rich regions in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – into more than just a trade route for critical raw materials.To ensure that the economic benefits remain in the region, we are supporting vocational training, education, and local processing. In Zambia, we are using grants to strengthen sustainable agriculture, combining value-chain development with technical training in beekeeping, agro-processing, and rural entrepreneurship. Meanwhile, in Angola, we are investing in vocational programmes tailored to the transportation, logistics, and energy industries.Achieving lasting impact requires long-term planning, which is why our approach is demand-driven, skills-oriented, and focused on creating good jobs and promoting local ownership. The Namibia Green Hydrogen Programme, which aims to help Namibia realise its green hydrogen potential while supporting Europe’s energy transition, is a prime example. Led by national institutions and developed with private partners like Hyphen Hydrogen Energy, the project provides specialised training for workers in the hydrogen and electricity sectors.In fragile settings, the stakes are even higher. When institutions and basic services break down, instability and unrest often follow. With nearly one-quarter of the world’s population living in areas affected by conflict, natural disasters, and displacement, initiatives like the Global Gateway help bridge the gap between humanitarian aid and long-term development by working to restore essential services and build resilience where it is needed most.Europe has the tools to lead this effort, but lasting progress depends on local ownership, commitment, and resolve. National governments and local communities must take the lead on meaningful reform, effective governance, and sustainable development. Our role is to stand beside our partners and provide reliable, transparent support. – Project SyndicateJozef Síkela is European Commissioner for International Partnerships.

US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s changes to federal vaccine policy are prompting medical organisations and several states to formulate their own vaccine recommendations for the fall respiratory illness season, concerned many healthy children and pregnant women could lose access to preventive shots.This push for an alternative standard to the one set by the federal government runs the risk of increasing confusion among providers and patients, according to health experts.It also runs up against hundreds of laws at the state level that rely on a federal vaccine advisory panel, the experts said. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, advises the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on which people should receive vaccines and at what intervals after they are approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Kennedy has spent decades sowing doubts about vaccines even when contradicted by scientific evidence. Since being appointed by Republican President Donald Trump to head the US Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, Kennedy has upended the federal government’s process for recommending vaccines for the American public. Kennedy last month fired all 17 ACIP members, replacing them with hand-picked advisers including anti-vaccine activists. Prior to that, Kennedy in May withdrew a federal recommendation for Covid shots for pregnant women and healthy children without ACIP’s input, saying there was not enough evidence to support offering these boosters to healthy children.Leading US medical organisations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, known as AAP, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, called IDSA, have sued Kennedy over the Covid decision.AAP said it will promote its own evidence-based vaccine guidelines starting with the fall respiratory season for Covid, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.“We simply cannot and will not stay silent as the system we rely on is being intentionally dismantled,” Dr Sue Kressly, the academy’s president, told Reuters.The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, called ACOG, is also developing guidelines for the upcoming respiratory illness season, to be issued in August or September. An ACOG spokesperson said the organisation continues to recommend Covid vaccines for pregnant women, a group at increased risk for severe Covid and pregnancy complications.The spokesperson also said the organisation rejects a recommendation by Kennedy’s vaccine panel against flu shots containing thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative that vaccine sceptics long have sought to link to autism despite evidence that these vaccines are safe.Both organisations and several others including the IDSA are collaborating with the Vaccine Integrity Project, a group of public health and infectious disease experts formed amid concerns about changes to vaccine policy, to review the latest scientific evidence on licensed vaccines for use in their guidelines.“What we’re trying to do is add a piece of non-biased, authoritative review of the data for use by the (medical) societies,” said Dr Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, who served as an adviser to Democratic former President Joe Biden on Covid.An HHS spokesperson defended Kennedy’s actions, saying the newly configured panel brings “fresh, independent scientific judgement” and that ACIP “will continue to be the statutory authority guiding immunisation policy in this country.”Jen Kates, a senior analyst at the nonprofit health policy organisation KFF, said US states have always maintained a patchwork of health policies. But having multiple entities issuing vaccine recommendations at the state and federal levels could make it hard for parents to know who to trust, according to Kates.“This patchwork could become even more pronounced with significant implications for health. State laws and requirements may vary, but pathogens don’t abide by borders,” Kates said.Recommendations issued by ACIP since its founding in 1964 have become embedded in laws across the United States governing health insurance coverage, access to vaccines for children in low-income families, school immunisations, the ability of pharmacists to administer vaccines, and, in some states, vaccine purchasing.“It is mind-numbing when you compare how many things are impacted by ACIP,” said Rebecca Coyle, who serves as executive director of the American Immunization Registry Association, an organisation that develops and updates vaccination information systems used by physicians, and as an adviser to ACIP.An analysis by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials found that nearly 600 statutes and regulations across 49 of the 50 US states, three US territories and Washington, DC, reference ACIP recommendations.Several states have already taken action.Wisconsin said it continues to recommend the current Covid vaccine during pregnancy and for everyone age 6 months and older, and noted that the state’s Medicaid health programme for low-income people will continue to cover the shot for eligible people. The Democratic governors of California, Washington state and Oregon condemned Kennedy’s dismissal of the ACIP panel members, citing their “grave concerns” about the integrity and transparency of upcoming federal vaccine recommendations.These states said they will continue to recommend Covid vaccines for children 6 months and older and pregnant women in accord with leading US medical associations.Some states have started rewriting statutes to no longer defer exclusively to ACIP. Colorado, for instance, has amended laws to include vaccine recommendations from major medical societies in addition to ACIP when setting the state’s policies for immunising schoolchildren.Massachusetts lawmakers are considering legislation proposed by Democratic Governor Maura Healey to empower the state’s public health commissioner to determine routine childhood immunisations in lieu of ACIP’s recommendations. Legislators in Maine have removed references to ACIP from a state vaccine access law.Osterholm said health insurers have told the Vaccine Integrity Project that they would be more likely to cover uniform vaccine recommendations, increasing pressure for alignment among various groups.“We need to come together the best we can,” Osterholm said, but “we can’t leave the ACIP or HHS recommendations as the only other source out there.” — Reuters

Bala Amarasekaran has never felt like running his world-renowned sanctuary for orphaned chimpanzees in Sierra Leone was truly work, having come to his calling only after several unexpected twists of fate.Standing in his Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary not far from the capital Freetown, he tenderly patted a young ape's nose and stroked its cheek, whispering a few words of encouragement into its ear.A nearby adolescent, visibly jealous, grabbed at Amarasekaran's hand, pandering for his attention with an intense gaze.The chimps are not just Amarasekaran's life and work, but his family too. Since 1995 he has fought for them, nurtured them and preserved the oasis he created for them against an onslaught of dangers."I never feel I come to work because the chimps are a part of my life", Amarasekaran told AFP. "It's my passion, I come to see my family".In the face of armed rebel attacks during the country's civil war, mass deforestation and even Ebola, Amarasekaran has ensured the chimps' safety.In the midst of it all, Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary has become the country's leading ecotourism destination and a model for environmental conservation in west Africa.The little apes in the enclosure visited by Amarasekaran had only recently arrived following traumatic life experiences.Members of the critically endangered Western chimpanzee subspecies, the orphans are often malnourished or otherwise wounded by bullets or machetes, sometimes after being sold by poachers and kept as pets.At the sanctuary, located inside the country's Western Area Peninsula National Park, they will first be rehabilitated then freed into its dozens of hectares of protected tropical rainforest, already home to 123 primates.Amarasekaran, a 64-year-old accountant by training, was by no means destined for a life protecting young apes."Well it all happened by accident," Amarasekaran said, green eyes twinkling.Amarasekaran first arrived in Sierra Leone at age 17 from Sri Lanka.In 1988, while travelling in the countryside with his wife, Sharmila, the newlyweds were shocked to discover a baby chimpanzee tied to a village tree, malnourished and dehydrated."We took the chimp, otherwise he would have died," Amarasekaran said, and once home "we actually looked after him like a child".Bruno, as he was named, would live with Amarasekaran for almost seven years until the sanctuary was built.The couple was astounded by the ape's emotions, and discovered that chimps had "the same kind of demands in terms of affection" as humans, Amarasekaran said.The interspecies family grew as the Amarasekarans took in up to seven chimpanzees at a time.Despite all the love, there could be "a lot of destruction", Amarasekaran said.Sometimes the chimps would escape from the house, causing damage to neighbours' properties or stealing bread from passersby."I was public enemy number one," Amarasekaran said with a laugh, often returning home to find bills for repairs from neighbours.A REFUGE IS BORNAfter a decisive meeting with renowned primatologist Jane Goodall in 1993, Amarasekaran secured funding from the European Union and a green light from the Sierra Leone government.At the time, Amarasekaran thought he would commit one to two years to the project and then hand over the sanctuary.But that never happened."I didn't realise the chimps would become a very important part of my life," Amarasekaran said, his voice breaking with emotion.Thanks to his awareness campaign, the government declared the chimpanzee the "national animal of Sierra Leone" in 2019.Over the years the sanctuary has endured many challenges. During the country's civil war, which lasted from 1991 to 2002, the sanctuary was attacked twice by rebels and completely looted.Amarasekaran had to negotiate with the fighters to spare his staff and chimps' lives.Later, the Ebola epidemic posed an existential threat to humans and chimps alike. The centre closed for a year and caregivers moved into the facility.The same system was also put in place for several months during Covid-19.Faced with an alarming increase in deforestation and illegal encroachment on the national park where the refuge is located, Amarasekaran is taking drastic measures.Since late May he has kept the sanctuary closed in a protest meant to shock the government into action.So far however, the government has not responded, and the financial consequences for the sanctuary, which depends on tourism and donations, are weighing heavily.As a keeper it is easy to develop a special bond with a few favourite chimps, just like among humans, Amarasekaran said.He had been particularly close with Bruno, Julie and Philipp, now deceased.These days, he likes to visit with Mac, Mortes and Abu: "These are my friends", he said while smiling.As AFP accompanied Amarasekaran around the sanctuary, a roar of excitement arose from an enclosure where some of the adults were gathered.The adoring screeches seemed proof that the unique love Amarasekaran professed for his chimps goes both ways.

The world’s largest commercial passenger jet, the Airbus SE A380, enjoyed an unexpected resurgence hauling full loads of passengers when global travel rebounded after the pandemic. But keeping the ageing superjumbo safely airborne is becoming an increasingly expensive headache for airlines.Two decades after its maiden flight, regulatory bulletins ordering repairs, inspections or replacement parts for the massive four-engined plane are piling up. While some are procedural, such as a demand for timely equipment checks, others are more serious.Leaking escape slides, cracked seals and a ruptured landing-gear axle feature among 95 airworthiness directives for the A380 listed by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency since January 2020.That’s about double the number of directives for large Boeing Co aircraft in the same period.With newer, more fuel-efficient jets in short supply, airlines committed to the twin-deck A380 have little choice but to keep flying it. In its youth, the A380 was a triumph of international collaboration, with 4 million parts made by 1,500 companies worldwide. Now, in old age, the aircraft’s complexity is testing aviation’s fractured supply chains in the post-Covid era.“The A380 is a complex aeroplane whose scale does make it more demanding to maintain compared to other aircraft,” the European Union Aviation Safety Agency said in a statement. “It is very important for safety that there is no stigma attached to publishing an airworthiness directive -– safety must come first.”The agency said such directives, which mandate actions to make an aircraft safe, “can vary hugely in scope and urgency.” The volume of airworthiness directives for different planes “is not a good basis for comparison,” EASA said.However, with the capacity to carry 485 passengers or more, delays caused by mechanical failures can be costly and create a cascade of scheduling headaches. A Qantas Airways Ltd A380 on the flagship Sydney-London route broke down in Singapore on May 7 with fuel-pump problems. The onward flight to London was pushed back more than 24 hours and passengers accommodated in hotels.That was at least the second fuel-pump issue to delay QF1 in Singapore since Qantas reactivated its A380s. More recently, Qantas passengers who were due to depart Singapore on July 14 for Sydney on an A380 were delayed for days because of technical difficulties. Plans to retrieve them sooner were complicated by damage to another A380 at Sydney airport, when an aerobridge slammed into one of the engines.A British Airways A380, G-XLEB, recently spent more than 100 days in Manila. After returning to London Heathrow in mid-June, it flew just seven days of the next 30, according to Flightradar24. Still, IAG SA-owned British Airways from next year will embark on an interior upgrade program, including overhauling A380 cabins, suggesting the airline will keep flying the plane for years.For airlines using the A380, large-capacity alternatives are scarce. Boeing’s new 777X is years behind schedule and Airbus can’t make long-haul A350s fast enough. Meanwhile, A380 operators are left with an out-of-production superjumbo that will only become more needy and more expensive to run. In online aviation forums, some services are gaining a name for breakdowns, cancellations or overnight delays.In a statement, Airbus said the A380 “continues to operate scheduled services with a high level of operational reliability, standing at 99% for the global fleet over the past 12 months. Airbus is committed to providing full technical support to customers to ensure that they can optimise operations with their A380 fleets, and this will continue as long as the aircraft remains in service.”Meanwhile, A380s are taking up space and manpower in workshops around the world, exacerbating a shortage of repair facilities for the wider commercial fleet. A comprehensive check of the massive plane can consume 60,000 hours of labour, according to aircraft repairer Lufthansa Technik.Qantas is sending some double-deckers to Dresden in Germany to be overhauled; British Airways flies its to Manila for repairs; and Emirates, the world’s biggest operator of A380s, maintains some in China.Some of the aircraft’s recent faults stem from prolonged periods on the ground during the pandemic, when airlines parked their A380s in the Californian desert, central Spain or the Australian outback.An airworthiness directive from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency on May 16 ordered emergency inflatable escape slides to be replaced. Glued seams had split, probably due to exposure to moisture and heat during storage. The fault could have fatal consequences, EASA said.On April 7, EASA ordered inspections on A380s after cracked sealant was found on fittings attaching the landing gear to the wings. A directive in April last year required some landing gear axles to be replaced after a rupture on a plane that had been in storage since 2020.The future of the A380 was already in doubt when Covid-19 halted global travel in early 2020. The year before, Airbus had killed off production after underwhelming sales.When Covid-19 receded and borders reopened, the A380 suddenly found new purpose. Travel boomed and carriers including Singapore Airlines Ltd., Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Qantas once again embraced the plane’s unrivalled carrying power.In a statement, British Airways called the A380 “a vital part of our long-haul fleet. Through working closely with Airbus, we’ve seen consistent year-on-year improvements in its reliability.”Qantas said the plane “is a key part of our international network, and we’ll continue to fly them for years to come. All Qantas A380s have gone through a scheduled major maintenance overhaul in recent years, as well as significant upgrades to the cabin interiors.”Other A380 operators were reluctant to provide specific details. Asiana Airlines Inc. said “issues related to aircraft operations and maintenance are difficult to disclose externally.” Korean Air Lines Co said it “maintains its A380 fleet to the highest safety standards, in strict accordance with all regulatory requirements and manufacturer guidelines.”Singapore Airlines said its 12 A380s are important to operations but it was “unable to comment on specifics.” The company said it works closely with “Airbus and our suppliers to ensure the ongoing reliability and serviceability of our A380 fleet.”

Senegal is grappling with billions of dollars in debt that was hidden by the previous administration. Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko is expected to present a comprehensive economic recovery plan next week but the issue has also raised questions for the International Monetary Fund, which at the time was monitoring Senegal’s finances under a loan programme.What is the debt, why have the figures changed and what is next for Senegal and the IMF?In September 2024, Senegal said an audit of government finances, which had been ordered by newly elected President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, put the end-2023 budget deficit at over 10%, significantly wider than the 5% reported by the previous administration.Faye’s government ordered a further audit, and the IMF froze Senegal’s three-year, $1.8bn credit facility, which had been agreed in June 2023.Since then, Senegalese authorities have worked to determine the full scale of the debt and keep the government running in the face of curtailed resources and a lack of access to IMF funds or international bond markets.It is unclear how the off-books borrowing was spent. Current Prime Minister Sonko has accused the previous government of corruption, and there are some ongoing court cases related to alleged theft of Covid-19 funds.A Court of Auditors review in February calculated that overall debt at the end of 2023 was equivalent to 99.7% of Senegal’s gross domestic product, well above the previous figure of 74.41%. That new total implied hidden borrowing of around $7bn.But in June, provisional figures put central government debt at around 23.2tn CFA francs ($41.7bn) by end-2024, a more than 27% increase from end-2023.This translates to a 119% debt-to-GDP ratio, according to Barclay’s economist Michael Kafe, who said on June 30 that the new figure presented “new risks to the debt trajectory and likely complicates on-going talks with the IMF.”S&P Global Ratings, in its downgrade of Senegal’s credit rating this month, pegged hidden debts at around $13bn and the ratio at 118%.This would make Senegal one of the most indebted countries in Africa, placing it in a small, unenviable club alongside Zambia, Cape Verde and Sudan.Senegal is not the first case of hidden debt.Mozambique’s infamous “tuna bond” scandal is the most recent high-profile example in Africa. But at roughly $3bn, Mozambique’s secret debt is dwarfed by Senegal’s.The IMF, which has come under fire for not catching the off-books lending, said it was conducting an internal assessment and diagnostic on the issue, and would present information to its Board on how the hidden debt went undetected.In the meantime, the IMF’s executive board must approve either a waiver for misreporting or order Senegal to pay back previous programme disbursements. With a waiver, Senegal can negotiate a new programme.Few expect the IMF to order Senegal to repay, which would effectively punish the current government’s transparency. But negotiations have taken longer than expected.Senegal had hoped for a new programme by June. The IMF said a decision on the waiver was unlikely before June or July.The IMF said it plans an August mission to Senegal to address the issue and start talks on the “contours” of a new loan programme.But it also said it needs more data before it can firm up its assessment, and that it needs an agreement on key remedial measures before it can take a decision.Sources expect action on a waiver in September.Prime Minister Sonko has said next week’s economic recovery plan will “tell the Senegalese how to get the country back on its feet, point by point.”A new IMF programme would help them finance that plan, but crucially would also give foreign investors confidence to lend again. To get one, however, Senegal must demonstrate how it will return to debt sustainability.Senegal’s bonds rallied earlier this month after it said it would rebase its economy for the first time since 2018, which some investors say could push its debt-to-GDP back down into double digits, a potentially more palatable level for the IMF. The government could also attempt to reprofile debt by pushing payments further into the future but is expected to avoid a full restructuring.Senegal The US-Japan deal will put more pressure on other major Asia exporters to secure better deals due to its membership in the West African currency union UEMOA The US-Japan deal will put more pressure on other major Asia exporters to secure better deals does not have a problem sourcing the hard currency it needs to repay loans. And a restructuring could destabilise some regional banks holding its debt, which would be bad for the region. — Reuters

Russia yesterday began direct commercial flights to North Korea, in a further sign of closer ties with its Asian ally helping its offensive in Ukraine.The first Moscow-Pyongyang flight, operated by Russia’s Nordwind Airlines, took off at 1625 GMT, according to the Sheremetyevo airport’s website.It was scheduled to land in the North Korean capital some eight hours later.But initially, the route will only be serviced once a month, Russia’s transport ministry said.Nordwind Airlines — which used to carry Russians to holiday destinations in Europe before the EU imposed a ban on Russian flights — had tickets priced at 45,000 rubles ($570).“This is a historical event, strengthening the ties between our nations,” Oleg, a Nordwind employee managing the flight who did not want to give his full name, told AFP at the airport.He also declined to say how many passengers were on board.“For the first time in more than 70 years of diplomatic relations, we are launching direct flights between the capitals of our countries,” Russia’s deputy transport minister Vladimir Poteshkin was quoted as saying by the ministry’s Telegram account.Russia’s state news agency TASS reported that the first return flight from Pyongyang to Moscow would take place tomorrow.Russia and North Korea restored train links on June 17 after suspending them in 2020 during the Covid pandemic.The two countries have been forging closer military bonds in recent years, with Pyongyang supplying troops and weapons for Russia’s military operations in Ukraine.They signed a mutual defence pact last year, when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea.North Korea confirmed for the first time in April that it had deployed a contingent of its soldiers to the frontline in Ukraine, alongside Russian troops.

In the shadow of the Grand Egyptian Museum, souvenir shop owner Mona has been readying for the tourist boom she hoped the long-awaited opening would bring — now once again out of reach."I had bet everything on this opening," she told AFP from her shop, just steps from the iconic pyramids of Giza, which the much-anticipated museum overlooks.Originally scheduled to fully open this month, the museum was expected to attract up to 5mn visitors annually, fuelling optimism across Cairo's battered tourism sector."We planned our entire summer and fall packages around the museum opening," said Nadine Ahmed, a 28-year-old agent with Time Travel tours."But with group cancellations, refunds and route changes, we've lost tens of thousands of dollars." Though parts of the museum have been open for months, the main draw — the treasures of Tutankhamun — will remain under wraps until the official launch.Less than three weeks before its July 3 opening, the government announced another delay, this time pushing the landmark event to the final quarter of the year.Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly cited regional security concerns and the desire to host an event of "global scale".The vast museum, two decades in the making, has faced repeated delays — from political upheaval and economic crises to the Covid-19 pandemic.Ahead of the expected launch, Mona, who asked to be identified by her first name only, took out a loan to renovate her store and stock up on goods inspired by the museum's collection.A few streets away, Mohamed Mamdouh Khattab, 38, prepared months in advance, hiring and training extra staff and expanding his inventory."The opening of the museum is a key milestone," said Khattab, who owns a sprawling bazaar of handcrafted jewellery and ancient replicas."It's a project that should have been launched a long time ago," said the vendor, whose family has been in the industry since the 1970s.Tourism accounts for about 10% of Egypt's workforce, but the sector has struggled — from the fallout of the 2011 Arab Spring to militant attacks and the Covid shutdown.Still, signs of recovery have emerged: Egypt welcomed 3.9mn tourists in the first quarter of 2025, up 25% from the same period last year — itself a record.At a Giza papyrus workshop, 30-year-old tour guide Sara Mahmoud hopes the opening will revive visitor numbers."Big openings have brought a lot of tourism to Egypt before," she said, pointing to the 2021 Pharaohs' Golden Parade and the reopening of the Avenue of the Sphinxes."These events get people excited — we saw the crowds coming in." Such momentum could make a real difference, said Ragui Assaad, an economist at the University of Minnesota."Any initiative that directly increases foreign exchange earnings is likely to have a good return on investment," he said."If you compare it with all the other mega-projects, which do not increase foreign exchange earnings... this is a far better project." He was referring to a sweeping infrastructure drive under President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, including the construction of a massive new administrative capital east of Cairo.The stakes are high: since 2022, Egypt's currency has lost two-thirds of its value, squeezing household budgets and straining every layer of the economy."There were days when I sold just one bracelet," Mona lamented, thinking back to the years when "tourists arrived in droves".