Category: Country Reports
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September 2018
Overview. A somewhat slow month for news. President Sisi continues to try and shore up his position with sweeping new cyber laws and high-profile arrests aimed at quashing any attempts to overthrow his government through public protests. Egypt’s economy continues its slow surge with Cairo being ranked the most attractive city to investors in Africa,…
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September 2018
Overview. August has been dominated by Iran’s economic, social and political woes resulting from the US imposition of sanctions previously suspended under the nuclear deal (JCPOA). Political pressure is increasing on Rouhani’s government as prices rise for ordinary Iranians, official corruption is called out and international companies – particularly Europeans – leave the market.…… Read…
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August 2018
Overview. The reporting period featured fractious mayoral elections in three key city corporations, student protests in Dhaka over road safety, and mooted tax rises to improve the country’s tax revenue to GDP ratio. With Bangladesh’s 11th national elections due to occur in Q4, campaigning by the various parties has been underway for some time. … Read…
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August 2018
Overview. The period was dominated by the General Elections and, as predicted, violence increased significantly with over 300 people killed and more than 350 wounded versus 24 and 22 respectively in June. The 2013 elections, by contrast, saw 128 people killed and 142 injured. For all the pre-election predictions, the scale of the PTI’s victory…
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August 2018
Overview: July overall was not dominated by any single especially significant event. On 18 July President Sisi made his first foreign trip of this term to Sudan. Sisi and President Omar al-Bashir discussed border security and addressed Sudan’s support of Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam project, which Egypt fears will reduce its share of Nile River…
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July 2018
Overview. The reporting period was dominated by the release of the 2018/2019 budget yet concerns remain over terrorism and political stability. Bangladesh is prone to regular periods of political instability involving frequent campaigns of street violence led by various political parties. The historic rivalry between the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the Islamist opposition…