Hello from The National and welcome to the View from London – your weekly guide to the big stories from our London bureau
AI plea
Founded in London 25 years ago, the Arab Women’s International Forum was established to build bridges to the world.
Its founder, Haifa Al Kaylani, has dedicated the decades since towards empowering women in the Arab world.
The development economist spoke to The National about current challenges and her concern that women risk being “left behind twice over” in the latest technological revolution.
“If AI is developed without Arab women's voices in the room, it will encode the biases of the past into the technologies of the future. We simply cannot allow this to happen,” Ms Al Kaylani said.
“The window to address this is narrow, perhaps the next five years, and it is one of the most urgent priorities I see."
The AWIF will mark its 25th year with a focus on AI as a “frontier” for women’s empowerment. The programme seeks to equip female entrepreneurs with the skills, networks and policy advocacy needed for future AI-driven economies.
“We would like to see a sustained pipeline of Mena women into AI and deep-tech roles, accessible capital for women-led tech start-ups in the region,” Ms Al Kaylani said.
Policy work is needed to ensure equal access to digital education and to address “algorithmic bias that disproportionately affects women", she said.
The programme would take in cohorts covering climate tech, fintech, AI safety and healthcare innovation.
Ms Al Kaylani also touched on the devastation brought about by recent wars.
"The women of Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya, Gaza and Lebanon have endured circumstances that no economic empowerment agenda can address on its own, and we must not lose sight of them," she said.
Nonetheless she remains “profoundly optimistic”.
“I have watched the Arab world change profoundly over 25 years. The young women I meet today are more confident, more connected, more entrepreneurial and more globally minded than any generation before them,” Ms Al Kaylani said.
“The challenges are real, but the trajectory is unmistakably forward.”
Blair's warning
After a tumultuous few weeks, Prime Minister Keir Starmer will no doubt have hoped for calmer times in sun-drenched Britain to allow him to get on with the job and rack up a bit more time in Downing Street.
Now the man who used to occupy that address has weighed in with his thoughts on where it’s all going wrong for Labour and the country.
In a 5,600-word essay published overnight, Tony Blair set out a “new policy agenda” for Britain, using his experience in foreign relations to suggest the need to turn away from a dangerous path to isolationism.
Mr Blair said Britain and Europe must forge a “strong alliance” with the Middle East in the rapidly changing world order.
The Iran war "will not alter" the Gulf states being a significant player in global politics, he predicted. Britain has just signed a free-trade agreement with the Gulf Co-operation Council.
“The Gulf states are another new factor in global politics, wealthy, modernising fast and with huge investment in the West, which they are increasing, as well as becoming important players in the developing world,” Mr Blair said.
Caught between the thinking of both the far right and left wings, this could put the government “in danger of leaving Britain marooned on an island of irrelevance”.
Ultimately, he does not think replacing Mr Starmer is the answer. At least not without greater changes.
Putting a new face in Number 10 would be “irrelevant if it doesn't start with a policy debate”, he stated. “Trying to force the Prime Minister out before we know what policy direction we're bringing in, is not a serious way of conducting ourselves.”
What goes up ...
Much like petrol and interest rates, food prices “shoot up like rockets but drift down like feathers”, as a report has eloquently put it.
It said the cost of household staples such as bread and pasta will “barely come back down” due to the combined effect of the Iran war and warmer winds from El Nino.
Food prices rise sharply after “major shocks” but only fall slowly and partially afterwards, leaving homes with higher grocery bills, according to analysis from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit.
Shelf prices fall by just 1 per cent of the original rise after six months, 5 per cent after a year and 7 per cent after two years, the report, based on 30 years of UK data, has found. In wage-adjusted terms, only about a third (35 per cent) of the affordability shock had unwound after two years.
“Once prices go up, in nominal terms they barely come back down. In effect, each shock permanently resets list prices higher for households,” the report said.
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