People run at a protest as barricades burn during rainfall in Harare, Zimbabwe January 14, 2019. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
People run at a protest as barricades burn during rainfall in Harare, Zimbabwe January 14, 2019. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Mass protests in Zimbabwe after fuel prices more than doubled



Protesters barricaded roads and burned tyres in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare on Monday, two days after president Emmerson Mnangagwa raised the price of fuel by 150 percent in response to the worst economic crisis in a decade.

Police fired tear gas to contain unrest in several Harare suburbs and the second largest city Bulawayo, with the Human Rights Forum, a grouping of local rights groups, saying it had received reports of five people having sustained gunshot wounds.

Protesters chanted anti-Mnangagwa songs in Harare’s crowded Mbare suburb, while riot police stood at a distance to block demonstrators marching into the city centre.

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Riot police patrolled downtown Harare as army helicopters circled above. Companies closed early while schools called parents to pick their children, fearing violence.

Central Harare was deserted by 4pm. Commuters walked home from the city centre because there were no public taxis.

“I am stranded in town now and I have no idea how I am going to go home,” resident Leeroy Kabanga told Reuters.

Low-cost African airline Fastjet cancelled its remaining flights to and from Zimbabwe on Monday due to the unrest.

Mr Mnangagwa announced the sharp hike in fuel prices on Saturday to protect the country from a shortage of foreign currency. He defended the decision in Moscow on Monday, where he arrived at the start of a five-nation trip abroad despite expectations he might cancel it in the face of the unrest.

“Zimbabwe is going through both political and economic reforms and these do not come easily. It will take time for things to settle and results to be shown,” he told reporters in Moscow. He said the fuel price hike was necessary because local fuel was the cheapest in the region.

Cash shortages have plunged the economy into disarray, threatening widespread social unrest and undermining Mr Mnangagwa’s efforts to win back foreign investors sidelined under Robert Mugabe, whose 40-year rule ended in a coup more than a year ago.

“In normal circumstances the president should have cancelled the trip or booked a flight back home to deal with a very urgent situation, but it could be that he has absolute confidence that his deputy is in charge,” said Eldred Masunungure, a political science lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe.

Everyday life is getting increasingly tough with the prices of basic goods spiralling and medical supplies in short supply.

Motorists wait for hours to fill up at fuel stations where soldiers are often deployed to break up fights over who is next in line.

News of the fuel price increase was greeted with shock in Zimbabwe where unemployment is above 80 percent. The government sets fuel prices via the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Agency.

Hundreds of residents in Harare townships, all opposition strongholds, protested by setting tyres alight and blocking roads with stones. The main labour union called for a three-day stay-at-home strike starting Monday.

The authorities are keen to avoid a repeat of post-election violence in August in which six people were killed after the army intervened.

Home affairs minister Cain Mathema said police had deployed in suburbs and central business district to conduct patrols and surveillance, stop citizens and search them.

In Bulawayo, police fired teargas to disperse hundreds of protesters outside the High Court, according to video footage from the Centre For Innovation & Technology, an independent news service. The news service also showed footage of people looting a shop in a city suburb.

Zimbabwe, which abandoned its own currency in 2009 after it was wrecked by hyperinflation in favour of the greenback, plans to introduce a new currency in the next 12 months as the next measure to end the cash crisis.

But Zimbabweans are still traumatised by hyperinflation, which hit 500 billion percent in 2008 and left the local currency worthless, wiping out savings and pensions. Annual inflation reached 31 percent in November, the highest in a decade.

Businesses and civil servants are demanding to be paid in dollars. Zimbabwe’s largest brewing company Delta Beverages, part-owned by Anheuser-Busch Inbev, threatened to accept only US dollars as payment but later reversed its decision after government-led negotiations.

The government on Monday postponed wage negotiations with civil service unions, who are planning a nationwide strike from January 22 to press for US dollar pay.

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Sector: Sustainability
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Number of employees: 4
Milestones on the road to union

1970

October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar. 

December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.

1971

March 1:  Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.

July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.

July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.

August 6:  The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.

August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.

September 3: Qatar becomes independent.

November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.

November 29:  At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.

November 30: Despite  a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa. 

November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties

December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.

December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.

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Founders:​ Bridgett Lau and Micheal Cooke​

Based in:​ Dubai​​ 

Sector:​ e-commerce​

Size: 5​ employees

Stage: ​Looking for seed funding

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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?

The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.

Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.

New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.

“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.

The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.

The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.

Bloomberg

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

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