ISTANBUL: Turkey’s lira sputtered to another record low on Monday despite $6 billion in central bank interventions this month, after President Tayyip Erdogan doubled down on his unorthodox low-rates policy by referring to Islamic usury doctrine.
The president’s push for 500 basis points of interest rate cuts since September has set off Turkey’s worst currency crisis in two decades, with the lira crashing 35 percent in the last 30 days. read more
The currency fell to as far as 17.6 to the dollar, an all-time low, and was at 17.44 at 0747 GMT.
Erdogan defended his economic policy on Sunday and likened the currency volatility to attacks on the country’s economy that have roots in 2013 nationwide protests, which began in Istanbul’s Gezi Park over access to green space. read more
“We’re lowering interest rates. Don’t expect anything else from me. As a Muslim, whatever (Islamic teaching) requires I will continue to do that,” he said, referring to Islamic finance in which high interest, or usury, is typically avoided.
Despite widespread criticism and rapid fallout for the economy — including Turks’ fast eroding incomes and savings — Erdogan has forged ahead with his so-called new economic program that prioritizes exports and lending.
Under pressure from the president, the central bank cut rates again last week by 100 points, sending real rates deeper into negative territory, a red flag for investors and savers.
Inflation jumped to 21 percent last month and is expected to pass 30 percent next year. Economists and opposition lawmakers say the rapid monetary easing is reckless and it has sent import prices soaring.
The lira has lost more than half of its value this year and is by far the worst performer among peers for three years running, due largely to damaged monetary credibility, analysts say.
In an attempt to slow the selling and address what it called “unhealthy” prices, the central bank has intervened five times this month. Bankers’ calculations show it has sold more than $6 billion from its already depleted foreign reserves.
Turkish lira skids to new low after Erdogan cites Islamic usury
https://arab.news/n7ut9
Turkish lira skids to new low after Erdogan cites Islamic usury
- Currency fell to as far as 17.6 to the dollar, an all-time low
- Inflation jumped to 21 percent last month, expected to pass 30 percent next year
UK firms sent thousands of military munitions to Israel despite arms export ban, report finds
- ‘8,630 separate munitions’ sent to Israel in the category of ‘bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles’ since suspension of 30 arms-export licenses in September
- Analysis by campaign groups of Israel Tax Authority data also finds deliveries of F-35 components as recently as March
LONDON: UK firms continued to send thousands of arms and other military items to Israel despite an announcement by the British government in September that it was suspending about 30 arms-export licenses for the country, according to a report published on Wednesday.
Campaign groups — including the Palestinian Youth Movement, Progressive International, and Workers for a Free Palestine — analyzed data from the Israel Tax Authority and found that UK businesses were still sending shipments of military items, including munitions, arms and aircraft parts.
Their report states that F-35 fighter jet components were delivered to Israel as recently as March, more than five months after the UK government suspended the 30 arms-export licenses, including a ban on aircraft parts. Fighter aircraft, including F-35s and combat drones, have been a critical element of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since the war began in October 2023, carrying out airstrikes across the territory.
The report said that 8,630 separate munitions had been sent since the license suspensions in September 2024 in the category of “bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles and similar munitions of war and parts thereof.” UK firms also delivered four shipments of arms to Israel that included 146 items identified under a customs code as “tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, motorised, whether or not fitted with weapons, and parts of such vehicles.”
The authors of the report also found evidence that 150,000 bullets were shipped from the UK to Israel in October 2023, prior to the suspension of the licenses.
John McDonnell, a former Labour shadow chancellor, and MP Zarah Sultana have sent a letter to Foreign Secretary David Lammy calling for an investigation into the report’s findings.
Lammy told Parliament in October that much of the military equipment the UK sends to Israel “is defensive in nature. It is not what we describe routinely as arms.”
McDonnell and Sultana said it would be a resignation issue if it was discovered that he misled parliament and the public about the suspension of arms-export licenses to Israel.
They also called for an immediate halt to all arms exports to Israel and said the public “deserves to know the full scale of the UK’s complicity in crimes against humanity.”
Sultana said: “This explosive report shows the government has been lying to us about the arms it is supplying to Israel while it wages genocide in Gaza. Far from ‘helmets and goggles,’ the government has been sending thousands of arms and ammunition goods.”
McDonnell called on the government to “come clean in response to this extremely concerning evidence and halt all British arms exports to Israel to ensure no British-made weapons are used in Netanyahu’s new and terrifying plans to annex the Gaza Strip and ethnically cleanse the land.”
The Israeli military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians since the start of the war in October 2023, following the deadly attack by Hamas on southern Israel.
The Israeli government faces an ongoing case at the International Court of Justice over its military actions in Gaza, which have led to a humanitarian crisis and mass killings. In addition, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for crimes against humanity and war crimes related to the war in Gaza.
In a statement to The Guardian newspaper, a Foreign Office spokesperson said: “This government has suspended relevant licenses for the (Israeli army) that might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza.
“Of the remaining licenses for Israel, the vast majority are not for the Israeli Defense Forces but are for civilian purposes or reexport, and therefore are not used in the war in Gaza. The only exemption is the F-35 program due to its strategic role in NATO and wider implications for international peace and security.
“Any suggestion that the UK is licensing other weapons for use by Israel in the war in Gaza is misleading. The UK totally opposes an expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza. We urge all parties to return urgently to talks, implement the ceasefire agreement in full, secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas, and work towards a permanent peace.”
Serbian president’s flight halted in Baku en route to Moscow for WW2 parade
- It was unclear whether Vucic would be able to continue his trip beyond Azerbaijan
- Several regional states shut their airspace over Ukrainian drone strikes
BAKU: A plane carrying Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to Moscow for Russia’s parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany was halted in Baku on Wednesday due to ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Tanjug news agency reported.
It was unclear whether Vucic would be able to continue his trip beyond Azerbaijan after several regional states shut their airspace over a third day of Ukrainian drone strikes in Moscow, which forced most of the Russian capital’s airports to close.
Vucic was set to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 9, the day of the parade, the semi-official Serbian news agency reported, citing a Kremlin official.
European Union officials have urged presidents of nations aspiring to join the EU, including Vucic, to align their foreign policies with the bloc and avoid Moscow’s World War Two victory rites because of Russia’s three-year-old invasion of Ukraine.
Last weekend, Vucic abruptly returned from the United States where he had expected to meet with President Donald Trump, citing health reasons. But his physicians said his condition had improved and he could return to work in mid-week.
US may soon deport migrants to Libya on military flight, sources say
- Two of the officials said the US military could fly the migrants to the North African country as soon as Wednesday
- Reuters could not determine how many migrants would be sent to Libya
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s administration may deport migrants to Libya for the first time this week, three US officials said on Tuesday, as part of his immigration crackdown and despite Washington’s past condemnation of Libya’s harsh treatment of detainees.
Two of the officials said the US military could fly the migrants to the North African country as soon as Wednesday, but stressed that plans could change.
The Pentagon referred queries to the White House. The White House and Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A State Department spokesperson said: “We do not discuss the details of our diplomatic communications with other governments.”
Reuters could not determine how many migrants would be sent to Libya or the nationalities of the individuals that the administration is eyeing for deportation. Libya’s Government of National Unity said on Wednesday it rejected the use of Libyan territory as a destination for deporting migrants without its knowledge or consent. It also said there was no coordination with the United States regarding the reception of migrants.
Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army, which controls eastern Libya, also rejected in a statement the idea of the country taking migrants deported from the United States, saying it “violates the sovereignty of the homeland.”
Trump, who made immigration a major issue during his election campaign, has launched aggressive enforcement action since taking office, surging troops to the southern border and pledging to deport millions of immigrants in the United States illegally.
As of Monday, the Trump administration has deported 152,000 people, according to DHS.
The administration has tried to encourage migrants to leave voluntarily by threatening steep fines, trying to strip away legal status, and deporting migrants to notorious prisons in Guantanamo Bay and El Salvador.
LIFE-THREATENING
In its annual human rights report released last year, the US State Department criticized Libya’s “harsh and life-threatening prison conditions” and “arbitrary arrest or detention.”
In its travel advisory, the Department advises US citizens against visiting the country due to “crime, civil unrest, kidnapping and armed conflict.”
Libya’s west is overseen by the GNU under Prime Minister Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibah, who was installed in Tripoli through a UN-backed process in 2021. Eastern Libya has a parallel administration and is controlled by commander Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army.
Major fighting ended with a truce in 2020 but the underlying political dispute between the sides remains and there are sporadic clashes between rival factions.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week said the United States was not satisfied only with sending migrants to El Salvador, and hinted that Washington was looking to expand the number of countries that it may deport people to.
“We are working with other countries to say: We want to send you some of the most despicable human beings, will you do this as a favor to us,” Rubio said at a cabinet meeting at the White House last Wednesday.
“And the further away from America, the better.”
A fourth US official said the administration has for several weeks been looking at a number of countries to send migrants to, including Libya.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the administration had struck an agreement with the Libyan authorities to accept deportees of other nationalities. On April 19 the Supreme Court justices temporarily barred the Trump administration from deporting a group of Venezuelan migrants it accused of being gang members. Trump’s administration, which has invoked a rarely used wartime law, has urged the justices to lift or narrow their order.
It is unclear what kind of due process might be underway ahead of any Libya deportations.
Libya has had little peace since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising, and it split in 2014 between eastern and western factions, with rival administrations governing in each area.
A Tripoli-based Government of National Unity under Prime Minister Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibah was installed through a UN-backed process in 2021 but the Benghazi-based House of Representatives no longer recognizes its legitimacy.
Kabul warns India, Pakistan that escalation ‘not in interest of region’
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged both sides to exercise restraint
- Relations between the Taliban government and neighboring Pakistan have been strained
KABUL: Afghanistan’s Taliban government warned India and Pakistan on Wednesday that further escalation was not “in the interest of the region” after they exchanged artillery fire along their contested frontier.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on the social media platform X that “it urges both sides to exercise restraint and resolve their issues through dialogue and diplomacy.”
Islamabad said 26 civilians were killed by the Indian strikes or gunfire along the border, while New Delhi reported at least 12 dead from Pakistani shelling.
Relations between the Taliban government and neighboring Pakistan have been strained over security concerns and Islamabad’s deportation campaign which has expelled tens of thousands of Afghans since the beginning of April.
The Taliban, who returned to power in Kabul in the summer of 2021, have in contrast developed closer ties with New Delhi, even though it does not recognize their government.
The violence between India and Pakistan was sparked after New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing the deadliest attack in years on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, which killed 26 men. Islamabad rejects the charge.
India urges restraint but remains ‘fully prepared’ amid tensions with Pakistan, army says
- Indian strikes were ‘measured, non-escalatory, responsible’ foreign secretary says
- Pakistani officials say at least 26 civilians were killed in Indian missile strikes
NEW DELHI: Indian forces are fully prepared to respond to any retaliation from Pakistan, an army spokeswoman said on Wednesday, after Delhi launched missile strikes on Pakistani sites that it said were linked to last month’s deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Indian Armed Forces launched “Operation Sindoor” in the early hours of Wednesday, hitting nine locations in Pakistan’s densely populated Punjab province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, from where it said “terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed.”
The strikes came amid heightened tensions between the rivaling neighbors in the aftermath of an attack on tourists near the resort town of Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, in which 26 people — 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen — were killed.
“India has demonstrated considerable restraint in its response. However, it must be said that the Indian armed forces are fully prepared to respond to Pakistani misadventures, if any, that will escalate the situation,” Wing Commander Vyomika Singh told a joint briefing by the Indian military and Ministry of External Affairs in the Indian capital.
“Operation Sindoor was launched by Indian Armed Forces to deliver justice to the victims of Pahalgam terror attack and their families.”
She said that Indian forces used niche technology weapons and carefully chose warheads to avoid collateral damage to civilians and civilian infrastructure, without providing more detail.
Sindoor, which refers to the vermilion powder worn by married Hindu women, is an apparent reference to the widows left by the April 22 attack, in which the victims were all men.
Indian officials showed footage of what they said were strikes on the targets in Pakistan during the Delhi briefing, as well as a map marking locations of what they said were “terror infrastructure.”
“Over the last three decades, Pakistan has systematically built terror infrastructure. It is a complex web of recruitment and indoctrination centers, training areas for initial and refresh of courses and launch pads for handlers. These camps are located both in Pakistan as well as Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir areas,” Singh said.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said India’s actions were “measured, non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible.”
“They focused on dismantling the terrorist infrastructure and disabling terrorists likely to be sent across to India.”
He said the strikes were launched because there was “no demonstrable step” from Pakistan to “take action against the terrorist infrastructure on its territory or on territory under its control” since the Pahalgam attack.
“Instead, all it has indulged in are denials and allegations. Our intelligence monitoring of Pakistan-based terrorist modules indicated that further attacks against India were impending,” he said.
Kashmir has been the subject of international dispute since the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.
Both countries claim the Himalayan region in full and rule in part, and have fought two of their three wars over it.
Indian-administered Kashmir has for decades witnessed outbreaks of separatist insurgency to resist control from the government in Delhi, which accuses Pakistan of arming and training militants since 1989. Islamabad has denied those allegations, saying it offers only moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self-determination.
A Pakistan military spokesperson said at least 26 civilians were killed in the Indian strikes on Wednesday.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday the country’s top national security body had authorized its armed forces to take “corresponding actions” in response to the Indian strikes.
India and Pakistan have had near daily exchanges of fire across the de facto border, called the Line of Control, which divides disputed Kashmir between them.
On Wednesday morning, they also exchanged intense shelling and heavy gunfire across much of the frontier, which reportedly killed and injured dozens of civilians on both sides.
