Aug 15 update

President Vladimir Putin’s economic advisor admonished Russia’s central bank for loose monetary policy as the rouble slid past a 16-month low to 102 against the dollar, having lost around 30% of its value this year. The bank had earlier blamed the slump on deteriorating foreign trade conditions. It said it may raise its key interest rate and convened an unscheduled rate meeting on Tuesday. The currency has suffered from escalated military spending, Western sanctions and European countries’ diversification away from Russian energy supplies.

Niger’s military government vowed to prosecute Mohamed Bazoum, the deposed president, for “high treason”. The junta, which seized power last month, accused Mr Bazoum of “undermining the internal and external security of Niger”. Earlier a group of Islamic scholars who held mediation talks with the generals reported that they are open to diplomacy and to talks with west African leaders.

The death toll from wildfires in Hawaii rose to at least 96. It is the deadliest natural disaster since the archipelago became an American state in 1959. Josh Green, Hawaii’s governor, promised to investigate the response to the fires. Many residents have complained that emergency-warning systems never sounded. President Joe Biden said he was “looking into” visiting Hawaii in the coming days.

Foxconn, the world’s largest contract manufacturer, said it expects falling sales this year, having previously predicted flat revenue. The Taiwanese giant reported second-quarter net earnings of NT$33bn ($1bn), a 1% drop compared with last year. Global demand for electronics is dwindling due to an economic downturn. In August Apple, Foxconn’s biggest customer, predicted its longest sales slump in decades.

Seven prominent pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, including Jimmy Lai, a media tycoon, were cleared of organising an unauthorised protest in 2019. Their convictions for attending the march were upheld. The rally, which organisers claimed 1.7m people attended, was part of a wave of anti-government protests. A draconian national-security law imposed in 2020 to prevent further unrest has largely silenced dissent.

Shares in Country Garden, one of China’s biggest property developers, plunged by 16% to a record low. The slump was triggered by an announcement over the weekend that the company would suspend trading in some of its bonds. Last week it was reported that the firm was restructuring its debts after missing international bond payments. Country Garden’s woes will add to the growing concerns about China’s economy.

Paris St Germain, a French football club, agreed a deal worth around €90m ($98m) for the sale of Neymar, a Brazilian forward, to Al Hilal, a Saudi club. If completed, the move will continue a huge spending spree by Saudi Pro League clubs, who have spent over $500m on transfer fees this summer—catapulting them into the premier league of global football’s biggest spenders.

Figure of the day: $480m, the money spent by teams in the Saudi football league on transfer fees this summer. Read the full story.

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PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

India battles rising food prices

To taste the effects of inflation in India, visit a fast-food restaurant. Last week the American chain Subway announced that it would no longer add a free cheese slice to its sandwiches because of rising costs. Similarly, many McDonald’s outlets have done away with tomatoes in their burgers. Food prices have risen because of erratic monsoons, which have submerged crops in parts of the country.

As a result, inflation has surged. Data released on Monday revealed that the annual inflation rate accelerated to 7.4% in July, from 4.8% in June and well above the central bank's upper threshold of 6%. Last week the bank left interest rates unchanged for a third consecutive meeting since April, but sustained food inflation may force it back into action. The government has already acted, restricting exports of rice to slow rising domestic prices. With a general election scheduled next year, the government knows Indian voters won’t stomach rising costs.

PHOTO: ALAMY

The Muslim Brotherhood’s identity crisis

When Muhammad Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, was ousted in a coup, his followers protested in Rabaa Square, in Cairo. On August 14th 2013, Egyptian security forces killed at least 900 members of the Brotherhood gathered there. Ten years later the group has barely recovered.

Many of those who survived the massacre were thrown into prison; others fled into exile. In 2020 Mahmoud Ezzat, the Brotherhood’s then leader, was arrested. The succession dispute that followed was unusually messy.

But the Brotherhood elected a new acting “general guide”, or leader, 78-year-old Salah Abudlhaq, in March of this year. Mr Abulhaq’s arrival could signal a new start. He has been far removed from the recent internal squabbles. Nonetheless, he will have his work cut out. The government has not yet loosened its hold on the Brotherhood. The anniversary on Monday will probably pass relatively quietly. Members fear that any protests would be aggressively dispersed—again.

PHOTO: EPA

Just for one day: Zimbabwe’s Heroes’ Day

Monday will be no ordinary Heroes’ Day in Zimbabwe. The day is supposed to commemorate the thousands of people who lost their lives in the “liberation war” of the 1960s and ’70s that led to the end of white-run Rhodesia and the establishment of Zimbabwe in 1980 under the rule of Robert Mugabe. But with a general election due on August 23rd Zanu-PF, the party that has misruled the country since independence, will use the moment for political rallies.

It will argue, falsely, that it alone liberated the country and insist that only Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s successor, can keep the revolution alive. Many—almost certainly most—Zimbabweans are beyond tired of this hogwash. Decades of corruption, idiotic policies and thuggery mean that real GDP per capita is lower today than in 1980. But Zanu-PF has a history of rigging elections. There are ample reasons to believe it will try to do so again.

PHOTO: ALAMY

Alabama’s political map goes back to court

In June the Supreme Court ordered Alabama to re-draw its electoral map. In 2021 the state’s legislature created one with just a single majority-black district out of seven, though black Alabamans comprise 27% of the voting-age population. The Supreme Court agreed with a lower court’s decision: the map violated the Voting Rights Act.

On Monday the district court that rejected the first map will consider the legislature’s revised effort. The Supreme Court instructed lawmakers to create a second majority-black district “or something quite close”. Republicans, who have a super-majority in the legislature, are testing that formulation. Their proposed map preserves one majority-black district and increases the share of black voters in a second to just under 40%. It all but ensures that Alabama will continue to send six Republicans to the House of Representatives (black voters tend to prefer Democrats), where the GOP has a razor-thin majority. Republicans hail a “compromise”; the district court might see it differently.

PHOTO: GENERAL FILM CORPORATION

The way to rob a (central) bank

How can $101m disappear from a bank? It is a question investigators struggled to answer in 2016, when hackers stole that sum from Bangladesh’s central bank. “Billion Dollar Heist”, a documentary which comes out on Monday, explains how scammers used SWIFT, a cross-border payments network, to wire funds from the bank’s deposit with America’s Federal Reserve to accounts in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. The show’s title seemingly refers to the fact that, if not for their sloppiness, the cybercriminals could have escaped with $1bn.

The story is well suited to the screen. It features shadowy baddies, obscure online worlds and transnational criminal operations. Audiences were hooked by “The Lazarus Heist”, a podcast and subsequent book about state-sponsored hackers in North Korea (the same group was probably behind the Bangladesh scam). And our sister magazine, 1843, recently reported on the theft of $2.5bn from Iraq’s largest state bank. It seems no prize is too big for today’s bank robbers.