A controversial bill that gives Ukraine’s prosecutor general sweeping authority over its independent anticorruption agencies has been signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022, anti-government protests on Tuesday were the biggest ones. On Wednesday, more protests are anticipated.
The National Anticorruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) are now empowered to supervise and rescind investigations that are currently under the law.
Two significant institutions, NABU and SAPO, have long served as a symbol for Ukraine’s commitment to eradicating high-level corruption. These organizations are viewed as political tools by critics who fear that the move will undermine their independence.
Demonstrators chanted “We chose Europe, not autocracy,” and “Veto the law” as protests erupted in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and Odesa.
Many people thought the bill was a ploy to undermine Ukraine’s decade-long efforts to establish democracy, transparency, and membership in the European Union.
Two NABU officials were detained just one day earlier on suspicion of having Russian connections, and other employees were searched by Ukraine’s domestic security agency.
In his Wednesday address, Zelenskyy cited these incidents to support the reform, arguing that there had been a lack of infiltrating of the agencies and stagnant cases involving billions of dollars.
He claimed that there is no logical justification for the billion-dollar criminal cases that have been hanging for years.
However, international observers and watchdogs see a different threat.
The EU’s enlargement commissioner, Marta Kos, called the law “a serious step back,” while Transparency International Ukraine expressed concern that it undermines crucial safeguards.
The EU, G7 ambassadors, and other Western supporters emphasized that the EU must grant financial aid and join the EU without obtaining financial aid.
Disillusionment is growing despite Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka’s assurances that “all core functions remain intact.”
Shigeru Ishiba, the prime minister of Japan, has refuted reports that he plans to step down in light of the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP)’s) historic defeat in a weekend election. He claims he wants to ensure that the tariff agreement with the US is properly implemented.
Ishiba announced his resignation by the end of July in an extra edition of The Yomiuri Shimbun, which opened the door for a party leadership vote to choose his successor, according to an additional edition published on Wednesday.
The 68-year-old leader told reporters at the party’s headquarters on Wednesday, “I have never made such a statement…The facts reported in the media are completely unfounded.”
The reports came after Ishiba and US President Donald Trump unveiled a trade agreement on Tuesday that lowers import duties on Japanese automobiles and prevents Tokyo from imposing new tariffs on other products.
Ishiba had previously stated his intention to continue working on Monday in an effort to address pressing issues, including tariff negotiations with the US, without creating a political vacuum, which has sparked calls from both his party’s insiders and outsiders for a swift resignation in response to the election results.
As the centre-right LDP and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, are under increasing pressure to step down, Ishiba has slammed his hold on power and political stability in Japan. They lost their majority on Sunday in the smaller and less powerful two-chamber parliament, the upper house, which was reduced to 248.
Three years after the US began to rule the nation following World War II, the LDP has been in power almost continuously since 1955.
The ruling coalition now lacks a majority in both houses of parliament, making it even harder for his government to achieve any policy objectives and exacerbate Japan’s political unrest. It also lost a majority in the more powerful lower house in October.
Ishiba praised the trade agreement on Wednesday, which reduces the initial 25% before the August 1 deadline to 15% on imported Japanese goods into the US from Japan, saying it was the result of long-fought negotiations to advance both countries’ efforts to create more jobs and investment.
However, some analysts criticized it as being “not a good deal at all.” People should consider whether the trade deal is beneficial for Japan, according to Seijiro Takeshita, dean of the Graduate School of Management, Informatics, and Innovation at the University of Shizuoka.
voters frustrated with price increases exceeding the rate of wage increases, particularly younger people who have long felt ignored by the government’s focus on senior voters, quickly turned to emerging conservative and right-wing populist parties, such as the “Japanese First” Sanseito far-right group, which gained significantly in the vote on Sunday.
As the ruling LDP battles these difficulties from new political parties, especially those on the right, that are squandering its support, Ishiba’s potential departure less than a year after taking office would spark a succession fight within it.
An LDP funding scandal has also caused anger.
Naomi Omura, an 80-year-old Hiroshima resident, told the AFP news agency, “I really hope things will improve in Japan, but the population is declining, and I think living there will get tougher and tougher.”
Although “I think it was good that they agreed on a lower tariff,” she said, “It is disappointing that Japan cannot act more strongly” toward the US.
Anwar Ibrahim, the prime minister of Malaysia, has announced a package of measures designed to lower the cost of living, including a 100 ringgit ($24) cash handout for all adult citizens.
Anwar stated in a televised address on Wednesday that the assistance would benefit 22 million Malaysians and be redeemable across more than 4, 000 stores starting August 31 through December 31.
Anwar outlined the government’s plans to freeze planned increases toll rates on 10 highways, as well as lower the cost of subsidised gasoline from 2.05 ringgit per liter (2. 6 gallons) to 1.99 ringgit per liter for citizens.
According to Anwar, an additional public holiday will be held on September 15th this year in line with Malaysia Day, the nation’s holiday-celebration day.
According to Yeah Kim Leng, an economics professor at Sunway University in Kuala Lumpur, “Malaysian households, especially those in the low and middle-income groups, will welcome the cost-of-living relief provided by the measures.”
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.’s senior economist, Lavanya Venkateswaran, said the measures are in line with the government’s plan to promote growth, which is projected to slow from a quarterlyized 4.4% in the first half of 2025 to 3.5% in the second half.
According to Venkateswaran, the fiscal package announced today, combined with the central banks’ 25bps rate cut earlier in July, suggests that the authorities are intensifying anti-cyclical policies.
Venkateswaran claimed that the cash donations would “at the margin” and have a comparatively nominal cost of 0% of the GDP.
Anwar’s resignation is a subject of a planned rally in Kuala Lumpur days before his resignation due to rising living costs and alleged failure to implement reforms.
Cairo, Egypt: When Ahmed Ginah first departed his small-town in the northern delta of Egypt for the capital of Tanzania in 2017, he had little other plans. Four years later, he named his company after that dream.
No one could have imagined why I left Tanzania when I was 28 when I was first introduced to the country, according to Ginah, who openly translates as the “Mayor of Egyptians in Dar-es-Salaam” in the country.
But when Ginah arrived, what he found were opportunities – and a chance to build something new.
He remarked that he “dreamed my company, Dream]Trading” in recognition of his success in the year 2021. He set it up with savings of $3, 000, tapping into a growing market importing and exporting aluminium household goods. He eventually entered the steel industry as the years went on.
But beyond work, the 36-year-old is also somewhat of a benevolent godfather figure for other North African migrants making the journey southward.
Ginah follows a routine daily. Every morning, his driver, Hamed, drops him off at the household goods warehouses attached to Dream Trading. He takes him to City Mall, the most well-known shopping destination in Dar es Salam’s Kariakoo neighborhood, a while later.
Ginah is a regular at the Somali cafe there, where he sits until about noon, meeting other Egyptians and Tanzanians, often over a breakfast of mandazi – deep-fried dough fritters dusted with powdered sugar – or a chipsi mayai, a popular street food omelette with French fries, tomato sauce and vegetables.
Egyptians who relocate to Tanzania typically have a friend or relative there. For those who don’t, Ginah helps them find a place to stay, sometimes offering them a job at Dream and helping cover their rent if they’re an employee. He also informs them about Tanzania’s employment system and provides them with information on potential cities for employment.
“However, the most important thing I provide”, said Ginah, “is a trusted, guaranteed translator”. People in Tanzania’s urban centers are fluent in English. But many village residents only speak Swahili. Ginah said he lends a helping hand because it might cause misunderstandings and expose newcomers to “fraud or scams”
Ahmed Ginah, right, and two Egyptians recently arrived in Tanzania]Egab]
However, Ginah is determined to assist only those who wish to.
“I help those who come to work, not those who lie on their laurels and delegate the work to the translator or others”, he said. This country has a lot to offer, but it doesn’t give to the lazy or dependent, the person should be advised in such circumstances.
Ginah has gained a lot in eight years. According to figures provided by Egypt’s ambassador to the country, Sherif Ismail, who gave the figures to his home village, he has assisted dozens of young men from his home village to relocate to Tanzania, where an estimated 70, 000 Arabs live, including 1,200 Egyptians, in 2023. His company currently distributes goods throughout Africa.
South-south migration
Ayman Zohry, a sociology expert and expert on migration studies at the American University in Cairo, claims that ambitious young Egyptians in a troubled economy are looking for alternatives to emigrating to the West while Europe fortifies its borders against North African migrants.
This south-bound migration has accelerated significantly in recent years.
According to official statistics, there are more Egyptians than Americans living in non-Arab African nations, up from 46 000 in 2017 to 54 000 by 2021.
This trend stands in stark contrast to the perilous journeys many Egyptians still make across the Mediterranean. Egyptians made up more than 7% of all arrivals in Italy along the Central Mediterranean in 2023, making them the fifth-most common nationality, according to a report released by the Mixed Migration Centre.
The European Union recently responded with a new 7.4 billion euro ($8.7bn) agreement with Egypt, partly aimed at boosting border controls to reduce irregular migration to Europe.
According to Zohry, the trends in youth migration in Egypt are notable.
“While traditional destinations were the Gulf and Europe, there is a new trend towards the south, specifically some African countries”, Zohry told Al Jazeera.
Young people are looking for investment opportunities in emerging and promising markets as part of the “economic migration.” “This trend has grown in tandem with the expansion of the Egyptian government’s diplomatic and commercial relations with several African countries”.
However, according to Zohry, migration to Africa is frequently temporary or circular. “This means that the migrant returns to Egypt after a short period, or moves between several countries according to available opportunities”.
[Photo: Andrew Emmanuel/Reuters] Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania
The back-and-forth flow is evident every Friday night in Dar-es-Salaam, as an aeroplane takes off from Julius Nyerere airport, heading to Cairo.
Whole families line the departure gates during the Eid al-Adha or Eid al-Fitr as Egyptians bring their incomes home to visit their loved ones, help build a new home, marry a member of a family, or assist their parents in achieving their goal of carrying out the Hajj pilgrimage.
‘ Open to Egyptian skills ‘
Arab and North African diaspora communities are expanding across the continent.
South Africa accounts for the highest percentage of Egyptian residents in Africa, accounting for 85 percent, followed by Nigeria, Kenya and Senegal.
Ginah relates a late-’90s legend that has since become a urban legend among African youth looking for more green space.
“A young man went to South Africa on vacation to visit a friend. He was reportedly detained in Cape Town for an irregular visa, according to Ginah. “When he was released, he was broke. He only had some aluminum utensils at home, so he sold them to get enough money to buy a ticket home.
That’s when the word got out, he says, and people discovered the huge demand for Egyptian aluminium household goods. Young people realized they could earn money, and that is how Egypt’s trade with other African nations increased. Since then, Egyptian business interests across the continent have diversified to include manufacturing, agricultural processing, and mining.
Although North Africans have long traveled south, according to Ginah, the trend grew in response to the 2011 widespread uprisings in Egypt and the resulting political, economic, and social changes.
“There was a new wave of emigration within Africa – both]to] South Africa and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa – as the Gulf and Libya were greatly affected by the political turmoil”.
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the president of Egypt, passes a guard of honor at Dar es Salaam’s Julius Nyerere International Airport.
Locally, migrants have also found a more friendly working environment, many say.
Tanzania’s government has made significant strides in promoting foreign investment and entrepreneurship. According to Lloyds Bank country profile, foreign investors can benefit from many fiscal and non-fiscal incentives.
The Tanzanian embassy’s commissioner general and chief of staff, Makame Iddi Makame, stated that the country has “significant investment opportunities” and “natural resources.”
He said the country established the Tanzania Investment Centre to manage investment affairs. This includes lowering the rate of customs duties from 5 to 5 percent in the most important sectors and 0 to 5 percent in the most lucrative ones, granting tax exemption for industrial, agricultural, and mining inputs, facilitating the issuance of residence, work, and business permits, and putting capital gains back on hold for up to five years in the case of loss-making projects.
The country’s political stability also provides a high degree of investment security, as there is low inflation (4.2 percent) and stable exchange rates, he added.
According to migration expert Zohry, some African nations may appear less competitive but are more open to Egyptian skills in industries like construction, agriculture, education, and information technology given the limited opportunities there.
Yet, despite the potential opportunities and generally more welcoming atmosphere, migration to African countries is still limited, compared with the Gulf and Europe, he added, due to a stigmatised mental image many North Africans have about the rest of the continent.
However, there are indications that some young people may start looking for opportunities beyond traditional borders while the continent may change.
Business opportunities, shared friendships
Mayan village is located about 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Dar es Salaam.
There, Mohamed el-Shafie, 34, another Egyptian, built two cashew-processing factories in the Mtwara region in 2018, tapping into a strategic crop that accounts for 10-15 percent of Tanzania’s foreign exchange earnings.
According to el-Shafei, “Cashew sales are built solely on trust.” “The cashew growing and harvesting operation is meticulous and requires sensitive handling by farm workers to produce a pure cashew nut. The “processing” stage is followed by this step to get it ready for export in good condition.
Tanzania is one of Africa’s leading producers and exporters of cashew nuts, ranking among the top three on the continent and eighth globally.
[Egab] Workers at Mohamad El-Shafei’s cashew processing facility in Mayan Village, Tanzania
El-Shafei’s company has customers across the Arab world and Turkiye, and employs some 400 Egyptian, Chinese and Tanzanian workers, besides the seasonal labourers hired during the cashew harvest season in October.
El-Shafei, who was an undergraduate at Cairo University and later moved to Beijing to pursue his education, claimed that his foray into the cashew industry was accidental.
“At the time, I had a lot of Vietnamese friends who worked in the cashew industry. When I realized that Tanzania had a promising business opportunity and that I could fill a need with Chinese equipment that was specialized in cashew crop processing, he said.
With a little help from his friends, he connected with cashew farmers in Tanzania in late 2017, and with a small capital investment of , 200, 000 Egyptian pounds (about $11, 000 back then), el-Shafei set up shop and imported two cashew processing machines from China to start the business. Elshafei Investment Limited received 13 export shipments totaling about $719,700 between the years 2023 and 2024.
El-Shafei decided to relocate his small family to Dar-es-Salaam so his young children would not be far from him. They all reside in Tanzanians of Yemeni, Omani, and Iranian descent who migrated there before the Arab government’s occupation of the area in the wake of the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution.
Egyptians in Tanzania are not isolated from the local population, el-Shafei says.
We celebrate and observe holidays like the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU)’s July 7 Saba Saba Day, which was established in 1954 as a significant step toward nation-building and independence. We also celebrate Swahili Language Day and Eid al-Adha through communal meals held in cashew farm villages”, he says.
Egyptians make up the fabric of their new community, according to Ginah, who resides in Dar-es-Salaam with his wife and children.
“We maintain good relationships with Tanzanians, and we share friendships”, he said, including meeting at work, mosques and social clubs.
However, he said, there are also challenging times when moving away from home.
“The pain of alienation hits hardest when someone dies. It’s very difficult because we [Egyptian immigrants] are well-known, whether they are from East or West Africa. We immediately band together to make arrangements for the body to be repatriated, and we support the family financially and emotionally, whether they remain in Tanzania or return home to Egypt”.
However, when you have family by your side, “the alienation disappears,” according to Ginah. And thanks to technology, “we can see family and friends on a daily basis on mobile phone calls”.
Ginah believes that Tanzania is where he’s going to live.
“It has certainly become a second home for me, where my children are growing up”, he said. I’m unsure as to when I’ll return to my home country.
Under a new financial sanctions regime, which targets those who facilitate the passage of refugees and migrants across the English Channel via small boats, the United Kingdom has sanctioned 25 of those who are alleged to be people smugglers.
A small boat supplier in Asia and gang leaders with roots in the Balkans and North Africa were the targets on Wednesday, along with other individuals and organizations. Middle Eastern “Middlemen” who transfer money through the hawala money transfer system, which is used to make purchases related to Channel crossings, are also targeted.
Given that British authorities can only freeze assets located in the UK and that the majority of smugglers have locations elsewhere, it is unclear how effective the new sanctions regime will be.
It marked a “markmark moment in the government’s efforts to combat organized immigration crime [and] reduce irregular immigration to the UK,” according to Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Wednesday.
We are fighting against the people smugglers who promote irregular immigration from Europe to Asia, targeting them wherever they are on earth and demanding compensation for their deeds, he said.
The move comes in response to legislation that was introduced under the Border Security, Asylum, and Immigration Bill in order to strengthen the authority of police forces and partners to investigate and prosecute people smugglers.
Without relying on criminal or counterterrorism laws, the government can now freeze assets, impose travel bans, and obstruct access to the nation’s financial system as part of the new sanctions regime, which was implemented two days ago.
The organizations sanctioned include Albanian Bledar Lala, the head of an organized smuggling group’s Belgian operations, and a Chinese company that ran advertisements for small boats for people smuggling on an online marketplace.
The Labour government under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has helped the far-right Reform UK party win significant political victories with a hardline anti-immigration platform, has a significant political issue with regard to the number of refugees and migrants arriving on England’s southern coast via small boats from northern France.
Starmer and France recently reached migration agreements.
A “one in, one out” agreement was reached earlier this month between Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, which stipulated that all migrants arriving via small boats would be returned to France in exchange for an equal number of migrants entering the UK via a new legal route that would be fully documented and subject to stringent security checks.
A landmark defense agreement between Germany and the UK was signed last week, in which Berlin pledged to make it illegal to facilitate the movement of refugees and migrants to the UK. By the end of the year, the law change will give German authorities more authority to look into and take legal action against warehouses and storage areas where smugglers hid small boats for Channel crossings.
Masoud Pezeshkian, the president of Iran, stated that his country is prepared to fight any war that Israel might engage in. He added that he was not optimistic about a ceasefire between the two countries, and that Tehran is also committed to carrying out its nuclear program for peaceful purposes.
Pezeshkian made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera that was broadcast on Wednesday. It was his first since Israel’s 12-day conflict ended last month, when the US launched strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
In response to reports that strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities were less harmful than Washington had predicted, Western nations are now looking for a solution to the conflict’s ongoing nuclear ambitions.
Our armed forces are ready to strike Israel’s borders once more, Pezeshkian told Al Jazeera.
He claimed that Iran was not relying on the ceasefire, which had put an end to the 12-day conflict.
Pezeshkian remarked, “We are not very optimistic about it.”
“We have already prepared ourselves for any situation and response that might arise.” We have suffered harm from Israel, and it has also suffered harm from it. It has dealt us severe blows, and we have been able to subvert its effects.
He continued, “Israel’s strikes, which assassinated leading military figures, nuclear scientists, and damaged nuclear facilities, had attempted to “eliminate” Iran’s hierarchy, but it completely failed to do so.”
Before a ceasefire began on June 24, more than 900 people were killed in Iran, primarily civilians, and at least 28 were killed in Israel.
The enrichment program will continue.
Iran’s uranium enrichment program would continue despite international opposition, according to Pezeshkian, who stated that “international laws” would govern the development of its nuclear capabilities.
Trump told US President Donald Trump that Iran should not possess nuclear weapons, and that the United States supports this because it opposes nuclear weapons in all of its political, religious, humanitarian, and strategic positions.
We support diplomacy, so any upcoming negotiations must follow a “win-win” logic, and we won’t accept demands and rules.”
Trump’s claim that “our nuclear program is over is an illusion,” he claimed.
He claimed that scientists are thinking about our nuclear weapons rather than the facilities.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi previously said that Tehran would never abandon its nuclear ambitions but was open to a negotiated solution, which would guarantee that the program would be used for peaceful purposes in response to the lifting of sanctions. Araghchi said in an interview with US broadcaster Fox News on Monday that Tehran would never abandon its program to enrich uranium.
Israel aimed to “overthrow” its own political system.
Pezeshkian also addressed a possible assassination attempt by Israel at a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council in Tehran on June 15 that allegedly caused him to suffer minor injuries.
He claimed that the assassination attempt was a part of Israeli commanders’ plan to “put the country into chaos in order to overthrow it completely” in response to the assassination attempt.
He claimed that the plan had failed.
He added that Tehran’s attacks on Qatar’s Al Udeid base were not intended as a reprisal of Qatar’s and its citizens after US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities.
He continued, adding that he had called Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the day of the strikes to explain his position, adding that “we do not even have a thought or imagination that there should be hostility or rivalry between us and the state of Qatar.”
“I can honestly and clearly say that we attacked a base for America that bombed our country despite our good and optimistic intentions toward Qatar and its citizens,”
Resuming of discussions with European powers
Tehran will soon inform the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of its findings, according to Araghchi, who stated on Monday that Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization is still looking into how the attacks last month had affected Iran’s enriched material.
He claimed that Iran had not stopped cooperating with the IAEA, adding that any request for the organization to send inspectors back would be “carefully considered.”
IAEA inspectors left Iran earlier this month after Pezeshkian ratified a law that would end cooperation with the organization.
Meanwhile, on Friday in Turkiye, talks are scheduled to take place between Iran, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
