World in Brief - The Economist Roundup

 

World in Brief

The Economist Roundup

February 1, 2024

Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Meta, apologised to families of children who had suffered abuse on his company’s social-media platforms. He made his remarks during a congressional hearing over online safety in America. The heads of TikTok, Snap and X were also grilled by Democratic and Republican senators. Lawmakers are considering introducing several bills to protect children online.

 

The FBI said it had shut down “Volt Typhoon”, a network of Chinese hackers targeting important public infrastructure in America, including the power grid and water systems. Testifying to a congressional committee, Christopher Wray, the head of America’s intelligence agency, said the state-sponsored outfit had been preparing to “wreak havoc” in the event of a war between the two countries.

 

Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, urged the UN to shut down its refugee agency operations in Gaza. Israel has accused UNRWA staff of being involved in the attack by Hamas militants on October 7th. Earlier Antonio Guterres, the UN’s boss, said the agency is “the backbone of all humanitarian response in Gaza”. Israeli forces continued to pound the enclave amid negotiations over a temporary truce.

 

The International Court of Justice declined to rule on Ukraine’s claims that Russia was responsible for the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines flight over eastern Ukraine in 2014. The judges also rejected Ukraine’s request for reparations. Instead the court ruled that Russia had violated elements of an anti-terrorist law by not investigating allegations that Russian funds sent to Ukraine were financing terrorist activities.

Egypt on the brink

The Egyptian central bank faces a difficult interest-rate decision on Thursday. Even before Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, Egypt’s economy was in a dismal state. The war in Gaza has made things worse. External debt is 40% of GDP. Tourism to the country has plummeted. Since the Houthis began attacking Red Sea shipping, traffic through the Suez canal has almost halved, throttling a vital source of foreign currency. The Egyptian pound is now worth only 70 to the dollar on the black market, compared with around 40 in October.

At a time of wider regional turmoil, the West is not willing to let Egypt fail. Governments probably will not rush to call in their debts. But more ambitious reform is necessary in the long term. Most of Egypt’s economic woes can be traced back to the army’s economic empire, which crowds out the private sector. To let the Egyptian economy breathe, the army must loosen its grip.