Trade – ECONIR WEB

Elections in Israel

The former Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu was “formally ousted” by Israel’s parliament last Sunday. The new coalition government was then approved by a single vote (60 to 59) and one abstention. Israel’s new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is said to be further right than Netanyahu, will be replaced by the centrist leader Yair Lapid in two years. In total, the new coalition government is made up of eight parties — including an independent Arab party for the first time in Israeli history — who have little in common due to their wide distribution among the political spectrum. This could mean trouble for the new government in the future, although they have announced that as the new coalition government, they will focus more on domestic issues instead of issues that divide them to provide some stability. The first step that the new Israeli coalition took on Tuesday was to announce their plans to “repair Israeli ties with the US,” the New York Times reported. However, at the same time, the Israeli military bombed parts of the Gaza Strip in the early morning hours last Wednesday after incendiary balloons were sent by the Hamas into southern Israel. So far, there have been no reports of casualties.

The G7 Summit in Cornwall

The first-in-person summit since the pandemic first began concluded last week. The countries that attended were the US, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, and the UK. Although the G7 countries were not able to reach agreements on all topics they wanted to address, they have planned a range of new policy approaches. You can read more about the G7 summit on Cornwall here: https://econir-web.com/2021/06/20/the-g7-summit-in-cornwall/

Other News

Ebrahim Raisi has won the election in Iran, becoming the new President. However, voter turnout, especially among the younger generation, was very low.
During the NATO summit, President Biden “reaffirmed his commitment to the alliance,” according to the New York Times. The union has also taken a harder stance towards China and Russia, saying that China’s growing military power and influence around the world may “present challenges.”
President Biden met with President Putin in Geneva. The meeting was described as “positive” by President Biden and as “constructive” by President Putin, with outcomes such as an agreement to “open U.S.-Russia talks on cybersecurity and arms control” (the New York Times) being made.
Britain and Australia have made a free-trade agreement, which is Britain’s first major trading deal since it left the European Union last year.

The Ever Given is Freed

The giant container ship, which got stuck in the Suez Canal on March 23rd, has finally been freed. Completely blocking one of the most important trade routes for a period of six days, some argue that the blockage held up to $10 billion in trade each day as hundreds of cargo ships had to wait to pass through the Suez Canal. The economic impact is not the only consequence of the blockage, however. As global trade increased, ship sizes have increased as well. In fact, the Ever Given is longer than the Empire State Building in New York City is tall. The blockage has now shown that bigger is not always better, perhaps impacting how cargo ships will be built in the future.

Other News

The trial over the death of George Floyd began.
An ambush in a port town called Palma in Mozambique last week has left dozens of people dead and forced tens of thousands to flee. The Islamic State has since claimed responsibility.
Widespread famine is threatening to come up in Yemen. In the previous years, foreign aid helped cope with the famines, but with the current situation resulting in more countries focusing on their internal matters, the famine could prove to be disastrous in what is already the Arab world’s poorest country.
Myanmar’s security forces have started attacking the media, arresting 56 reporters last week.