Regime in Tehran must face maximum pressure over crackdown on women’s rights, WEF panel hears

Regime in Tehran must face maximum pressure over crackdown on women’s rights, WEF panel hears
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Rima Maktabi, Masih Alinejad, Nazanin Boniadi, and Tirana Hassan, speaking in the Women’s rights in Iran session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 17 January. (WEF/Manuel Lopez)
Regime in Tehran must face maximum pressure over crackdown on women’s rights, WEF panel hears
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Rima Maktabi, UK Bureau Chief, Al Arabiya, speaking in the Women’s rights in Iran session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 17 January. (WEF/Manuel Lopez)
Regime in Tehran must face maximum pressure over crackdown on women’s rights, WEF panel hears
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Rima Maktabi, Masih Alinejad, Nazanin Boniadi, and Tirana Hassan, speaking in the Women’s rights in Iran session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 17 January. (WEF/Manuel Lopez)
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Updated 18 January 2023

Regime in Tehran must face maximum pressure over crackdown on women’s rights, WEF panel hears

Regime in Tehran must face maximum pressure over crackdown on women’s rights, WEF panel hears
  • Governments must commit to targeted sanctions, Human Rights Watch chief tells World Economic Forum 
  • Protests have raged across Iran since 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in morality police custody last September 

DAVOS: The international community must apply maximum pressure on the Iran regime to end the violent crackdown on protesters in the country, the executive director of Human Rights Watch has told a Davos panel.

Tirana Hassan on Tuesday told the World Economic Forum: “At this particular point, the international community needs to put as much pressure as possible on the Iranian regime — the message needs to come across that violence will not be tolerated.

During a panel discussion on women’s rights in Iran, Hassan called on governments around the world to commit to targeted sanctions against the Iran regime to ensure that “the pressure is consistent.”

She added: “At this point in time, it’s about political stamina in the long run.”




Tirana Hassan, Acting Executive Director, Human Rights Watch, speaking in the Women’s rights in Iran session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 17 January. (WEF/Manuel Lopez)

Masih Alinejad, an Iranian US journalist, author and women’s rights activist, told the panel: “It has been almost four months (but) none of the European countries who claim that they care for women’s rights, equality, dignity, have sanctioned Ali Khamenei.”

The Iranian supreme leader is not only “ordering the massacre and killing of Iranian teenagers,” but is “also the one sending drones to Putin to kill innocent Ukrainians,” Alinejad added, urging G7 leaders to “recall their ambassadors and kick out Iranian diplomats.”




Masih Alinejad, Journalist and Activist, US Agency for Global Media, speaking in the Women’s rights in Iran session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 17 January. (WEF/Manuel Lopez)

Hassan said: “We have seen in the response to Ukraine, for example, what can happen and what can be achieved by standing up to the most powerful of regimes if the international community works together.

People in Iran “expect the same sort of solidarity, the same sort of action, and the same sort of unity coming from international actors,” she added.

The executive director said that a major struggle facing HRW in its work on Iran “is that there is very little accurate information coming out on the number of people that are killed.

“We can’t verify all this information,” she added, suggesting that local journalists in Iran “be empowered to provide information by reporting from the ground.”

To “relieve the pressure valve” in the short term, Hassan said, the international community can help by providing “certain remittances to be able to go into the country and support protesters.

“These small changes can be very powerful,” Hassan said.

Iranian British actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi told the panel: “If you look at history — Argentina, to Chile, to the Philippines — when women are at the center of a movement, the likelihood of it succeeding and of democracy prevailing increases.”

This is because women “have access to lead as a power in society that men, frankly, don’t have access to,” she added.

“We have the access to tell our sons and everybody else in society that this is not OK — and that is contagious. Courage is contagious,” Boniadi said.

The actress added: “For every person killed, a thousand rise behind them.

“This is not just a political issue, there is a huge economic component here. The Iranian diaspora — in its millions — is worth about $2.5 trillion dollars.

“We have a lot of power that we have not tapped into, and we live all across the world,” she added. “We are responsible, I think, for engaging our world leaders and tapping into that resource.”




Nazanin Boniadi, Human Rights Activist, speaking in the Women’s rights in Iran session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 17 January. (WEF/Manuel Lopez)

Hassan warned that the Iran regime will continue to “meet the resistance with increasing violence,” warning that authorities had already “talked about the use of pellet guns.

“It is called non-lethal weaponry, but these tiny pellets lodge in the eyes of many protesters and they will blind people,” she said, urging the international community to hold the regime accountable in the long term.

 


Oil Updates - Prices fall as US holds off refilling strategic reserve

Oil Updates - Prices fall as US holds off refilling strategic reserve
Updated 24 March 2023

Oil Updates - Prices fall as US holds off refilling strategic reserve

Oil Updates - Prices fall as US holds off refilling strategic reserve

TOKYO: Oil prices extended losses on Friday on worries about a potential oversupply after US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said refilling the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve may take several years, according to Reuters.

Brent crude fell 24 cents, or 0.32 percent, to $75.67 a barrel by 0412 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipped 24 cents, 0.34 percent, to $69.72 a barrel.

Both benchmarks, which fell about 1 percent on Thursday, were still on track for a weekly gain of about 3 percent-4 percent, recovering from their biggest weekly declines in months last week due to the banking sector crisis and worries about a possible recession.

“There is a sell-off from the view that the United States will not refill oil reserve even if the WTI prices are at $67-$72 a barrel,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager of research at Nissan Securities.

The White House said in October it would buy back oil for the SPR when prices were at or below about $67-$72 per barrel.

Granholm told lawmakers that it would be difficult to take advantage of the low prices this year to add to stockpiles, which are currently at their lowest level since 1983 following sales directed by President Joe Biden last year.

Nissan Securities’ Kikukawa said continued crude supply from Russia to the global market was also weighing on oil which, together with a lingering anxiety about the banking sector, could push benchmarks to test their lows hit earlier this week.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said a previously announced cut of 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in Russia’s oil production would be from an output level of 10.2 million bpd in February, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

That would mean Russia is aiming to produce 9.7 million bpd between March and June, when the production cut will be in force, according to Novak — a much smaller reduction in output than Moscow previously indicated.

The oil price downside was, however, cushioned by strong demand expectations from China, with Goldman Sachs saying commodities demand was surging in China, the world’s biggest oil importer, with oil demand topping 16 million bpd.

The bank forecast Brent would reach $97 a barrel in the second quarter of 2024.

A more than 1 percent decline in the dollar in the past week, which makes commodities priced in the greenback cheaper for holders of other currencies, capped downside price pressures. 


Scandal-plagued Japan tech giant Toshiba gets tender offer

Scandal-plagued Japan tech giant Toshiba gets tender offer
Updated 24 March 2023

Scandal-plagued Japan tech giant Toshiba gets tender offer

Scandal-plagued Japan tech giant Toshiba gets tender offer
  • Toshiba's deep troubles began with a sprawling accounting scandal in 2015, involving books being doctored for years
  • Its US nuclear arm Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy in 2017, after years of deep losses as safety costs soared

TOKYO: Scandal-embattled Japanese electronics and technology manufacturer Toshiba has accepted a 2 trillion yen ($15 billion) tender offer from Japan Industrial Partners, a buyout fund made up of the nation’s major banks and companies.
If the proposal succeeds, it will be a major step in Toshiba’s yearslong turnaround effort, allowing it to go private and delist from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. But overseas activist investors own a significant part of Toshiba’s shares, and it’s unclear if they will be happy with the latest bid.
Tokyo-based Toshiba Corp. announced its board accepted the bid at 4,620 yen ($36) a share late Thursday. Toshiba closed at 4,213 yen ($32) a share Thursday, and is trading at 4,474 yen ($34) early Friday. The offer was announced after trading closed in Tokyo.
The move comes while the world’s financial sector is in turmoil over the ripple effects from the recent collapse of banks in the US
The critical point is that the latest offer, if successful, will keep Toshiba’s business Japanese in an alliance with Japanese partners.
Japan Industrial Partners, set up in 2002 to restructure Japanese companies, lists big names among where it has invested, such as Sony, Hitachi, Olympus and NEC.
The consortium includes about 20 Japanese companies, such as Orix Corp., a financial services company, electronics manufacturer Rohm Co. and the megabanks such as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., according to Japanese media reports.
The deep troubles at Toshiba began with a sprawling accounting scandal in 2015, involving books being doctored for years. That added to its woes related to its nuclear energy business.
Its US nuclear arm Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy in 2017, after years of deep losses as safety costs soared. Toshiba is also involved in the decommissioning effort at the Fukushima nuclear plant heavily damaged by an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
Toshiba has gone through several presidents over the years, as the brand once prized for making household appliances, laptops, batteries and computer chips, became the target of overseas activist shareholders.
The latest proposal still needs to go through regulatory reviews in several countries, including the US, Vietnam, Germany and Morocco. The process is expected to take several months.
Toshiba has been trying to go private in recent years. Proposals to split Toshiba into three, and then two, companies were rejected by shareholders. Delisting will allow Toshiba to leave behind the activist investors.
Toshiba had its humble beginnings in a telegraph equipment factory in 1875. The brand had been synonymous with the power of modern Japan’s manufacturing sector. It has sold parts of its operations, including its flash-memory business, now known as Kioxia, although Toshiba remains a stakeholder in Kioxia.
Whether Toshiba can get back on a solid growth track remains uncertain. Last month, Toshiba lowered its profit forecast for the fiscal year through March to 130 billion yen ($1 billion), down from an earlier projection for a 190 billion yen ($1.5 billion) profit.
 


US Commerce Department adds 14 Chinese firms to red flag list

US Commerce Department adds 14 Chinese firms to red flag list
Updated 24 March 2023

US Commerce Department adds 14 Chinese firms to red flag list

US Commerce Department adds 14 Chinese firms to red flag list
  • Chinese Embassy accuses US of abusing export control measures and using state power to suppress and contain foreign companies

WASHINGTON: The Biden administration on Thursday added 14 Chinese companies to a red flag list, forcing US exporters to conduct greater due diligence before shipping goods to them because US officials have been unable to inspect the listed entities.
Being added to the list can potentially start a 60-day clock that could trigger much tougher penalties.
“Enforcing our export controls is a crucial part of protecting American national security,” US Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves said in a statement following the announcement. “We are committed to using all of the tools at our disposal to establish how advanced US technology is being used around the globe.”
ECOM International and HK P&W Industry Co. Ltd. were among those added to the list and did not respond to requests for comment.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said “China strongly deplores and firmly opposes” moves by the United States to “abuse export control measures” and use “state power to suppress and contain foreign companies.”
“The US side should immediately stop its wrong practices. China will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies,” the spokesperson added.
The United States has used restrictions on exports of US goods as a key tool to thwart Beijing’s technological advances, ratcheting up tensions between the two countries.

 


Fed comments, US crude stock build hit oil market

Fed comments, US crude stock build hit oil market
Updated 23 March 2023

Fed comments, US crude stock build hit oil market

Fed comments, US crude stock build hit oil market

LONDON: Oil prices dipped on Thursday, having hit their lowest since late 2021 earlier this week, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell highlighted banking sector credit risks for the world’s largest economy, while US crude stockpiles swelled.

Brent crude futures were down 54 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $76.15 a barrel at 0929 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 62 cents, or 0.9%, to $70.28.

Powell said on Wednesday that banking industry stress could trigger a credit crunch, with “significant” implications for an economy that US central bank officials projected would slow even more this year than previously thought.

HIGHLIGHTS

Goldman Sachs said on Thursday that demand from China continued to surge across the commodity complex, with oil demand topping 16 million barrels per day.

The bank forecast Brent to reach $97 a barrel in the second quarter of 2024.

US crude oil stockpiles rose unexpectedly last week to their highest in nearly two years, latest data from the Energy Information Administration showed.

Crude inventories rose in the week to March 17 by 1.1 million barrels to 481.2 million barrels, the highest since May 2021. Analysts in a Reuters poll had expected a 1.6-million-barrel drop.

The dollar slid to a seven-week low against a basket of other currencies, providing a price floor for oil as a weaker greenback makes oil cheaper for holders of other currencies.

Also supportive, Goldman Sachs said on Thursday that demand from China, the world’s biggest oil importer, continued to surge across the commodity complex, with oil demand topping 16 million barrels per day.

The bank forecast Brent to reach $97 a barrel in the second quarter of 2024.


Closing bell: TASI up on rising investor confidence 

Closing bell: TASI up on rising investor confidence 
Updated 23 March 2023

Closing bell: TASI up on rising investor confidence 

Closing bell: TASI up on rising investor confidence 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index rose by 95.88 points, or 0.93 percent, on Thursday to close at 10,446.39, driven by a rise in investor confidence, on the first session of Ramadan. 

The MSCI Tadawul 30 Index went up by 1.01 percent to 1,423.28, while the parallel market Nomu lost 37.60 points, or 0.20 percent, to close at 19,056.84. 

The total trading turnover of the benchmark index on Thursday was SR4.4 billion ($1.17 billion).

The top performer on Thursday was Al Kathiri Holding Co. as its share prices increased by 10 percent to SR50.60. 

Some of the other major gainers on Thursday were National Medical Care Co. and Bupa Arabia for Cooperative Insurance Co., whose shares went up by 9.95 percent and 6.45 percent respectively. 

Thimar Development Holding Co. was the worst performer on Thursday as its share prices went down by 9.98 percent to SR48.25 at the closing bell. 

Another worst performer on Thursday was Al Sagr Cooperative Insurance Co. whose share prices went down by 9.41 percent to SR13.58. 

On the announcements front, Amana Cooperative Insurance Co. reported that it trimmed its losses to SR43.80 million in 2022, from SR121.40 million in 2021. However, that had no positive impact on its share prices which fell by 1.25 percent to SR9.46. 

Saudi Arabian Cooperative Insurance Co. also narrowed its losses in 2022. Compared to the SR62.6 million loss it incurred in 2021, the company trimmed its losses to SR37.2 million in 2022. As the company performed well in 2022 compared to 2021, its share prices rose by 1.90 percent to SR11.82. 

Another company that announced its financial report on Thursday was Sumou Real Estate Co. The firm’s net profit in 2022 rose to SR87.6 million, an 8 percent rise from SR81.2 million in the previous year. 

As the company’s profit increased, Sumou Real Estate Co.’s board of directors declared a 10 percent cash dividend for the second half of 2022, at SR1 per share, amounting to SR37.5 million, a bourse statement revealed. 

Sumou Real Estate Co.’s share prices remained unchanged at SR45 at the end of today’s trading session. 

Meanwhile, Saudi Top for Trading Co. also announced its financial results for 2022. The company reported a net profit of SR32.77 million for 2022, an increase of 92 percent from a net profit of SR17.09 million in the year-earlier period. Amid a rise in profit, the company’s share prices dipped 0.53 percent to SR93.

Saudi Airlines Catering Co. reported a net profit of SR257.10 million in 2022, from SR14.10 million in 2021. Driven by the increase in profit, the company’s board of directors recommended a 5 percent cash dividend, at SR0.5 per share, for 2022, amounting to SR41 million. 

Saudi Airlines Catering Co.’s massive rise in net profit was also reflected in its share price, as it went up by 5.06 percent to SR85.10.