By Ahmad Abdel Rahman In eight years, the minimum wage in Egypt has increased by 300 percent, and fuel prices have risen by 700 percent. Analysts also believe that the collapse of the middle class is not in society's interest. On November 3, eight years would have passed since the Egyptian government decided to float the Egyptian pound against the ...
New Zealand PM bows out
Here's an article from The Economist which, while talking about John Key's resignation, states that NZ is "one of the most successful countries in the world. While this is debatable, there is no doubt that Key has had successes- namely international recognition- along with failures, housing, immigration and the environment. We have yet to see whether the new Prime Minister, John English, will have the same success.
Israel is weakening Iran, which supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah, while Russia is involved in its war with Ukraine, writes Ahmad Abdel Rahman. The latest unrest in the chaotic Middle East comes less than two months before US President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. Trump's team may see an unexpected opp...
Any change in the Middle East does not start in Lebanon and the war there, nor in Gaza and the war there, but rather ends in Gaza and Lebanon. This change does not start with Netanyahu's war to "strike the power of Hezbollah" after striking the power of Hamas in Gaza, but rather with the change in Iran, Israel and Turkey . Ahmad Abdel-Rahman writes...
Trump will restrict Iran's nuclear programme, weaken its economic position, and keep it on the defensive in negotiations, writes Ahmad Abdel-Rahman. The world woke up a few days ago to the news that former US President Donald Trump had won his third presidential race and that his party had achieved a comfortable majority in the Senate with 52 seats...
The current conflict between Israel and Iran is dangerous because both sides have no clear and effective strategies for ending the conflict, according to our Cairo-based correspondent, Ahmad Abdel-Rahman. Recently, the US reluctantly echoed the ironically contradictory Israeli idea of "escalation for de-escalation" in Lebanon. Two days later, the U...
Several phenomena have escalated and have begun to influence the political trends of Arab voters since the September 11 attacks and the "Arab Spring" revolutions, writes Ahmad Abdel-Rahman . One of the biggest questions raised by media institutions, academics, and specialised research centres concerned with American elections focuses on the general...
Israel's economy staggers and suffers heavy losses as global rating agencies downgrade its credit rating writes Ahmad Abdel Rahman from Egypt. In late September, as Israel's nearly year-long war escalated and its credit rating was downgraded again, the country's finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich said that despite the strains on the Israeli e...
Israel's economy staggers and suffers heavy losses as global rating agencies downgrade its credit rating, writes Ahmad Abdel-Rahman from Egypt. In late September, as Israel's nearly year long war escalated and its credit rating was downgraded again, the country's finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said, adding that despite the strains on the Israe...
Netanyahu's arrogance and Biden's support are leading the Middle East into a full-scale war, writes Ahmad Abdel-Rahman. More than a year after the war in Gaza, the conflict threatens to engulf the whole Middle East and bypass all efforts to prevent a regional war. Warnings are rising from influential countries in the Middle East and the world to pr...
Operation "Al-Aqsa Flood" made Iran feel proud and victorious and has given it the belief that it can pressure Israel. However, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced his country's ability to carry out any military operation inside Iran or against the factions of the "Axis of Resistance." Ahmad Abdel Rahman writes that Iran's dete...
The assassination of the secretary-general of Hezbollah in Lebanon , Hassan Nasrallah, shows that the US has many intentions and secrets regarding how it wants the Middle East to look , writes Ahmad Abdel-Rahman. A reshaping of the Middle East was one of the US's main goals when the secretary-general of Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hassan Nasrallah, was a...
Building a true partnership between the West and the Middle East will balance international powers and enhance innovation, says Ahmad Abdel-Rahman. As the competition between the US and China for dominance in artificial intelligence (AI) escalates, the risks go beyond simply reshaping the balance of power to reshaping the global political order due...
Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries seek to expand the production of green hydrogen as the "fuel of the future" to make their economies environmentally friendly. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the Sultanate of Oman invest heavily in this fuel when looking for alternative sources of revenue to oil and gas . Ahmad ...
The Israeli Ministry of Finance said that the Economic Arrangements Bill will be attached to its budget for 2025. It includes imposing new taxes on bank profits and privatising the Ashdod port—the only one the government owns. Our correspondent in Egypt, Ahmad Abdel-Rahman, reports. The Israeli Ministry of Finance said that the Economic Arrangement...
The war that Israel is waging against Hamas is a turning point for the balance of power in the Middle East. Ahmad Abdel-Rahman reports from Egypt. It became clear from the beginning that the ongoing war in Gaza represents a major turning point and is not just a round of military confrontation. It is a shift in many of the balances of power and infl...
The difficulties and complications of the Gaza ceasefire negotiations are not only related to the issues under negotiation but also to the internal political calculations of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, these difficulties are also linked to the US elections that will be held in November, explains our Egyptian correspond...
This article by Egypt-based Ahmad Abdel-Rahman looks at the reasons for the election of the new Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian. The campaign of the new Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, was based on re-engaging with the West to avoid sanctions and ease strict dress codes for women. Iran's elections in late June have also shown the divisio...
The Central Bank of Egypt turns to profitability for the first time in seven years. Net foreign assets in banks rose 1.7 percent to USD 13.3 billion writes Ahmad Abdel-Rahman. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) turned to profitability in the past fiscal year, for the first time in seven years, recording profits of EGP22.834 billion, compared to losses...
Kamala Harris's speeches do not live up to the level of action shown by the US presidency and were not convincing to Democrats who want to see an end to the aggression against the Palestinians, or at least see their country stop contributing to the Gaza massacre . Ahmad Abdel-Rahman reports from Egypt. The protests of thousands of American demonstr...
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has strong growth potential for automotive companies, but Morocco has recorded progress that maintains its dominant position in this industry . Ahmad Abdel-Rahman writes. Morocco's name has become more prominent on the global map of automobile production, thanks to the stimulating investment environmen...