Tag: COVID-19

Is this Self-Cleaning Mask the Future of PPE?

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A reusable, rechargeable mask that uses heat to kill traces of the virus could be a game-changer in the COVID-19 personal protection market, Israeli researchers say. 

Many countries around the world have made mask-wearing mandatory in the wake of COVID-19, leading to an uptick in the use and disposal of cheap but unsustainable masks.                                                              

Israeli researchers, concerned about the environmental impact of face-masks, say they have come up with the perfect solution and created a rechargeable mask that uses heat to kill germs and can be used over, and over again. 

Technion University’s lead researcher Professor Yair Ein-Eli says he hopes the new self-cleaning mask will save lives and the environment.  

“The medical world was always  moving towards non-reusable or disposable but when you have a crisis that you need five billion masks in 2020, in 2021 worldwide, five billion, you have to realise that this is not economic or environmentally friendly. Not at all,” Ein-Eli explained.   

“You have to make it reusable and friendly and this is our solution,” the inventor said.  

The prototype looks like a standard N95 face mask but has an in-built layer of carbon fibres that, when plugged in to a USB port, heat to 70 degrees Celsius.  

The heat is enough to kill the virus and disinfect the mask, and is too hot for it to be worn during the 30 minute disinfection process, the research team warns. The freshly disinfected mask is then ready to protect the user from COVID-19 and other airborne diseases.   

The Israeli researchers submitted a US patent in late March, while still in talks with the private sector, expect the auto-cleaning masks will retail at around $1 more than your regular disposable face mask. 

Read also: Cheap Steroid Emerges as Front-runner in COVID-19 Drug Trial 

 

Cheap Steroid Emerges as Front-runner in COVID-19 Drug Trial

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Scientists are hailing dexamethasone, a readily-available steroid, as a breakthrough COVID-19 treatment after it was found to cut deaths by one-third in the sickest patients, according to trial results released by Oxford University researchers on June 16.

The drug, used normally as an arthritis treatment, is one of six potential COVID-19 treatments being tested through the Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy Trial, known as the “Recovery Trial.” 

On Tuesday, results from a trial conducted by Oxford University’s Nuffield Department of Population Health, showed that dexamethasone reduces the chance of death by up to one-third in the sickest COVID-19 patients 

“It is the only drug so far shown to reduce mortality and it reduces it significantly,” said Oxford University Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases and study co-lead Peter Horby.  

“It is a major breakthrough, I think,” added an optimistic Horby. 

The Recovery Trial’s other chief investigator, Professor Martin Landray, said that in addition to its lifesaving properties, the drug’s wide availability and low cost were also “immensely important.” 

Landray said the results were so promising that dexamethasone should be added to the COVID-19 treatment regime straight away. 

“This is a (trial) result that shows that if patients who have COVID-19 and are on ventilators or are on oxygen are given dexamethasone, it will save lives, and it will do so at a remarkably low cost,” Landray said in an online briefing about the latest results.  

“It’s going to be very hard for any drug really to replace this, given that for less than 50 pounds ($63.26), you can treat eight patients and save a life,” Landray added. 

The British government has already moved to stockpile 200,000 doses of dexamethasone and will immediately begin using it to treat patients in UK hospitals. Governments around the world will undoubtedly follow suit, and researchers say they are working to publish the trial results quickly given the public health importance of its findings.  

The Recovery Trial has been running since March, and is one of many racing to find effective treatments for COVID-19. In addition to low-dose dexamethasone, the trial assessed the impact of HIV treatment lopinavir-ritonavir, antimalarial hydroxychloroquine, antibiotic azithromycin, anti-inflammatory injection tocilizumab, and plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients as potential disease treatments. 

The researchers randomized a total of 2,104 patients to receive dexamethasone 6 mg once per day for ten days, and compared them with 4,321 patients randomized to receive standard treatment alone. Dexamethasone was found to reduce deaths by one-third in ventilated patients, and by one fifth in other patients receiving oxygen only.

Read also: Latest Drug Trials Find Antimalarials Ineffective Against COVID-19

Tunisia Eyes Economy After Declaring COVID-19 Victory

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Tunisian Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh used a national address on Tunisian television on Sunday, June 14 to declare victory over the coronavirus epidemic in the North African nation. The prime minister highlighted the repatriation of 25,000 Tunisians from countries abroad as he emphasized Tunisians should be proud of themselves for beating COVID-19.

On June 27, Tunisia will reopen its borders and welcome back tourists who provide much-needed revenue in the country that has seen its economy frozen in place for months. Despite their hit on the economy, the stringent measures and general adherence to lockdowns and curfews was a major contributor to Tunisia’s success, according to Fakhfakh.

Tunisia recorded 1,096 total cases of the coronavirus, with 49 Tunisian casualties. Recoveries are currently at 998, leaving only a few citizens receiving treatment and with few new cases reported since May 10. On June 16, a day after the PM’s speech, 16 new cases were reported according to the North Africa Post.

The country’s relative success in halting the spread of the virus did come at a significant economic cost and uncertainty prevails over whether the country should ask for foreign support.

External debt

On Sunday, Fakhfakh spoke about the economic state of the country as the government faces a $1.6 billion shortage in public financing due to the coronavirus epidemic. The debate has raged regarding whether the country should request funds from international institutions, or whether austerity could alleviate the financial burden.

“External debt reached dangerous levels and now reached 60% of GDP, compared to 30% in 2013 and I decided not to continue in this way,” Fakhfakh told Attessia TV. The government’s proposed solution is a freeze in public sector wages and a reliance on internal loans to solve the economic crisis.

“Public finances are very critical and we cannot continue with the approach of increasing wages,” Fakhfakh stated as the country faces an economy set to shrink by 4.3%. “Public finances are very critical and we cannot continue with the approach of increasing wages,” Fakhfakh said, potentially setting up a conflict with Tunisia’s influential general labor union, UGTT.

Tunisia’s powerful labor union has stated that Tunisia’s average public sector wage of $250 per month is one of the lowest in the world and a freeze on public sector wages would mean personal incomes would decrease in respect to a 6.3% inflation rate.

Debating foreign assistance

Fakhfakh’s proclamation about public sector wages on Sunday will undoubtedly require reconsideration. The World Bank approved a $175 million disbursement from a collective international support fund known as the Resilience and Recovery Emergency Development Policy Operation.

“This crisis is a serious challenge,” Ferid Belhaj of the World Bank stated, “but it could also be an opportunity for Tunisia to redefine its position in the global economy by improving conditions for investment and job creation in the private sector.”

“This is an unprecedented budget support,” Tunisia’s Minister for Development, Investment and International Cooperation, Selim Azzabi stated. But it appears that the aid could come with major demands from the World Bank, as Azzabi said that the aid “required intense inter-donor coordination of several months carried out by our ministry.”

A statement from the World Bank included references to “improve the transparency and performance of state-owned enterprises” and “improving the business climate,” which are often euphemisms for nationalizing industry and cutting taxes and regulations for large businesses.

It is not yet clear whether Fakhfakh’s unpopular announcement on public sector wages is his own decision or simply acquiescence to a condition demanded as part of World Bank assistance.

COVID-19’s Secondary Effects Could Increase MENA Child Mortality by 40%

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Overstretched health services, missed vaccinations, and mistrust are all secondary impacts of COVID-19 that could lead to a dramatic increase in child mortality according to a new Johns Hopkins University study commissioned by the World Health Organization and UNICEF released on Sunday.  

“The COVID-19 pandemic is putting health systems under unprecedented stress in the region. Primary health care services have either decreased or been interrupted in several countries,” said UNICEF Regional Director in the Middle East and North Africa Ted Chaiban and WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari in a joint June 14 statement. 

The study looked at three different scenarios to understand how changes to health service provision and the economic impact of COVID-19 affect child and maternal health in ten MENA countries — Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Syria, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen.  

The MENA region, like the rest of the world, has seen few actual cases of the coronavirus in children, but the secondary effects of the pandemic are nevertheless “affecting children’s health firsthand,” the study found.

The Threat of Secondary Effects

“An additional 51,000 children under the age of five might die in the region by the end of 2020 if the current disruption of essential health and nutrition services is protracted and malnutrition among children increases,” the joint statement revealed. 

“If this happens, it would be an increase of nearly 40 per cent in comparison to pre-COVID figures, reversing progress made in child survival in the region by nearly two decades.” 

The pandemic has directed frontline workers away from providing essential services to mothers and their children such as immunization, treatment of neonatal infections and childhood diseases, pregnancy and childbirth care, and malnutrition programs. The WHO and UNICEF say coronavirus movement restrictions, economic downturn, and wariness of health workers and facilities driven by fear of contracting the disease are also creating new barriers to pediatric healthcare. 

“But we can avoid this scenario, allowing tens of thousands of children to celebrate their fifth birthday surrounded by their families and friends,” the WHO and UNICEF say. 

The UN agencies are calling for MENA countries to resume vaccination campaigns and nutrition services, facilitate access to primary health care for all children, provide sufficient infection prevention and control equipment to health workers, and begin communication initiatives aimed at restoring trust in the public health system. 

Too Late for Children in Yemen 

The worst case scenario is already playing out in Yemen, home to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and where a funding shortfall has already forced the UNFPA to cut lifesaving reproductive health services to 140 out of 180 health facilities in the war-torn country.  

“We are now in a life-or-death situation. Women and girls will die if we do not provide critical reproductive health services. We can only do so if funding becomes available,” said the UNFPA’s acting representative in Yemen, Nestor Owomuhangi, on May 29.  

Food programs have also been cut as a result of insufficient funding in the country where an estimated two million children under five are suffering from acute malnutrition.  

The World Food Programme, which provides food and nutrition assistance to around 12 million people across Yemen, states it “urgently needs US$416 million to ensure uninterrupted food assistance for the next six months.” 

On June 2, an international pledging conference co-hosted by the UN and Saudi Arabia fell short of its $2.41 billion fundraising target, with donors pledging just $1.35 billion — a shortfall largely attributed to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. 

It remains to be seen if the UN will secure alternative funding sources to support essential programs in Yemen. If not, it seems the country’s most vulnerable, namely women and children, are destined to become the forgotten victims of the global COVID-19 pandemic. 

Read also: Saudi Arabia’s Anti-Mine Program “Masam” Works to Make Yemen Safer

 

Egypt Set to Reopen Airports, Welcome Tourists Starting July 1

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On Sunday the Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Mohamed Manar announced the country would reopen all of its airports to regular international services from July 1 after closing them in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The move is a win for Egypt’s flailing tourism sector and a group of Belarusian visitors, who are set to be the first to benefit from Egypt’s Red Sea coast this summer when they arrive in Hurghada on July 4. 

During a press conference on June 14, the civil aviation minister, along with Tourism Minister Khaled El Anani and Information Minister Osama Haikal, said flights will gradually resume from the beginning of July, to the delight of struggling tourism operators. Tourism is a major employer in Egypt and accounts for between 5% and 12% of GDP, but has faced a difficult decade rocked by the 2011 revolution, terrorism, and now COVID-19.  

To facilitate the resumption of flights, Egypt has put in place a “comprehensive plan” that takes “into account the safety of citizens and tourists alike,” Haikal said. International tourists will initially only be allowed to visit Egypt’s three “touristic provinces” along the Red Sea — South Sinai, the Red Sea, and Marsa Matrouh governorates — but the restrictions will gradually be eased, the trio said. 

“Passengers will be required to finalize several measures before boarding their plane to Egypt, including signing an acknowledgment document specifying the Egyptian city they plan to visit before receiving their boarding cards,” Manar explained. 

“Passengers coming from countries announced to be affected by the pandemic shall submit a fresh PCR [COVID-19] test no later than 48 hours before their flights,” he added.

Travelers, the airplanes they arrive on, airports, and hotels will all be subject to strict sterilization and disinfection regimes, while passengers and crew will be required to wear masks and maintain social distancing during boarding and while exiting the plane, the civil aviation minister noted.  

The Egyptian government is also offering a number of incentives to entice travelers back. The government is subsidizing aviation fuel, temporarily removing tourist visas and their $25 fee, reducing airport fees and taxes by 50%, and cutting the admission price for Supreme Council of Antiquities sites by 20%.  

The Tourism Minister said he will brief his Arab counterparts on Egypt’s re-opening plans, and hopes to encourage tourists from the Arab world back quickly. Anani has also been in talks with his Belarusian counterpart, and those of fellow Eastern European nations Serbia and Ukraine. 

As a result of a recent virtual meeting between the tourism ministers, a flight carrying eager Belarusian tourists is set to become the first group of foreign visitors to return to post-COVID-19 Egypt when they land at Hurghada Airport along the Red Sea on July 4. Egypt is a top tourism destination for Belarusian travelers, 90% of which visit the coastal resorts located in the picturesque Red Sea and South Sinai governorates, according to the Red Sea Tourism Investors Association.

Read also: Egypt Cracks Down on Female TikTok Stars for Alleged ‘Debauchery’

COVID-19 Spreads to Darfur Refugee Camps

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The term “Internally Displaced Person” (IDP) is a rather abstract term the United Nations uses to indicate a person who has been made a refugee in their home country. For the 1.6 million people crammed in the permanent camps in Darfur, Sudan, the term is anything but abstract. For almost two decades, the residents of Darfur’s camps for “IDPs” have lived in fear of returning home as they remain powerless in the face of violence.

The relative safety of Darfur’s camps are now facing a new threat as humanitarian and medical workers in the area have warned of an alarming rise in suspected COVID-19 related deaths. Darfur’s camps have only sparse medical facilities in a country that has suffered immensely from two tumultuous decades during which Sudan has broken into two, seen a fragile and inconclusive popular revolution, and is now in no way prepared to face the threat of the coronavirus.

COVID-19 in Darfur

The Sudanese government has reported 7,007 cases of COVID-19 and 447 related deaths, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO) on June 15—a vast underestimation of the true scale according to experts, the Associated Press reports. In Darfur’s IDP camps, the elderly are getting infected and dying from COVID-19 symptoms without any treatment or response. People are dying at a disastrous rate as medical workers are unable to treat the infections that are creating another untold tragedy for Darfur’s fragile population.

Dozens of death announcements are posted each day in the camps outside Al Fashir, the capital of North Darfur province. The town has nearly tripled in size since the influx of internal refugees when heavily armed militias burned down villages during  Darfur conflict and forced many to take refuge in UN camps. Now, a new threat has emerged in their midst, leaving no safe place for the victims of Darfur’s brutal conflict.

Vanished people

Mohamed Hassan Adam, director of IDP camp Abu Shuk, told the Associated Press that his camp has seen 64 unexplained deaths in one corner of the camp alone. Adam told the press agency about his neighbors, all in their 60s, who withered away and “vanished” one by one.

“They get exhausted then they die. There is no way to tell what happened,” Adam stated.

Ashraf Issa, spokesman for the local UN peacekeeping mission said “we are in the eye of the storm” about the explosion of COVID-19 infections, as local officials have little resources to treat or even detect cases of the coronavirus. A health ministry official told the AP that Darfur is “like a separate continent” as Darfur’s problems are exponentially worse than the eastern parts of the country.

No revolution

For those in Darfur’s camps, the virus presents a potential death sentence. Most people there have nowhere left to run as continued violence and oppression awaits them if they attempt to return home. For many, the entire concept of home has changed as children have grown up in Al Fashir’s sprawling and crammed camps, with many knowing no other life besides it.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) wants to try Sudan’s former dictator Omar al-Bashir on charges of genocide and war crimes for his role in the Darfur conflict. Although the Sudanese transitional government has agreed to hand Al Bashir over to the ICC, few things have changed for the people in Darfur, for whom the revolution has meant very little.

With no outlook for change and the continued threat of violence outside of the UN camps, Darfur’s people face an unprecedented challenge with nowhere to go. “We’re losing a whole generation,” Gamal Abdulkarim Abdullah, director of Zam Zam camp, told the AP.

“The government barely knows we exist,” Mohamed Hassan Adam reiterated. “I fear the worst is yet to come.”

Astronomer Predicts Eid al-Adha Will Fall on July 31

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Astronomer Ibrahim al-Jarwan from the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences said he predicts Eid al-Adha, the Islamic holiday to celebrate the end of the Hajj pilgrimage, is likely to fall on July 31 this year.  

“The crescent of the lunar month of Dhu Al Hijjah 1441 is to be spotted on Monday, July 20, 2020, at 9.33 p.m. UAE time,” Al Jarwan said on June 14. 

“July 22 will mark the first day of Dhu Al Hijjah month and Friday, July 31, shall be the first day of Eid Al Adha, according to astronomical calculations,” he continued. 

Families that can afford it mark the second of Islam’s two biggest holidays by sacrificing an acceptable animal such as a sheep, goat, cow, or camel. The animal is then divided into three portions: One third for family, one third for friends and neighbors, and one third for the poor. 

UAE-bound sheep stranded in Australia 

Across the Gulf, thousands of live sheep arrive from countries like Australia in the lead up to Eid. One ship bound for the UAE, the “Al Kuwait,” has been stuck in Australia since May 22 after 21 of the 48 crew members tested positive for COVID-19 after docking in Fremantle, Western Australia—putting its 56,000 cargo of live sheep in limbo.  

On June 13, the Australian Department of Agriculture approved an application for an alternative ship to leave with 50,000 of the 56,000 sheep originally supposed to be transported by the “Al Kuwait.” Australia has a moratorium on live sheep exports to the Gulf from June to September to protect animal welfare from the area’s extreme summer temperatures. 

Kuwait renewed a plea to the Australian government to waive its moratorium on live export in the wake of a drop in international freight, which has significantly impacted fresh meat imports and supply in the Gulf state. 

Kuwait’s Minister of Trade and Industry Khalid Nassir Alrowdan asked Australia’s Agriculture Minister David Littleproud to “reconsider the Australian livestock export ban during the hemisphere summer…to enhance our national food security and the Australian national economy.”

The latest request comes after the CEO of the state-run Kuwait Livestock Transport and Trading, Osama Boodai, wrote to the Australian government on April 2 asking it to “reconsider” the June to September ban.

“The current COVID-19 outbreak around the world has placed increased pressure on food supplies into the Middle East region,” Boodai said in his letter to Littleproud.

“The revered Eid Al Adha festival falls in late July and live animals are of critical importance to that occasion and we fear there will also be shortages then,” Boodai continued.

“Restricting the trade of Australian sheep puts the region’s sovereign food security at risk and damages very long time trading relationships,” Bodai warned.

It appears that the combined economic opportunity and the food insecurity issues raised by the Kuwait government forced the Australian government’s hand and pushed it to permit the one-off shipment. 

Eid preparations begin

Morocco, like many Middle Eastern and North African countries, started preparing for Eid al-Adha just a few days after celebrating Eid al-Fitr. Over the past month, local authorities in Morocco tagged 4.5 million livestock, including sheep and goats ahead of the major religious holiday—a phenomenon playing out across the region. 

On May 26, Moroccan Agriculture Minister Aziz Akhannouch announced some 2.6 million sheep had been selected and vaccinated in preparation for what is known in English as the “sacrifice holiday.” 

“The COVID-19 pandemic did not stop us from celebrating Eid al-Fitr, but the Eid al-Adha celebration poses logistical challenges and requires good planning and organization,” Akhannouch said.

Moroccan authorities have also agreed to subside stock feed this year given the dry season and COVID-19 economic difficulties to ensure stock are in good condition for slaughter and to prevent high feed costs from impacting consumer prices. 

Hajj could be canceled 

In Saudi Arabia, it is shaping up to be a very different Eid al-Adha in 2020, and authorities are still considering whether or not to cancel the annual hajj pilgrimage. 

In late July, some two million pilgrims usually flock to Saudi Arabia to complete what for many is a once-in-a-lifetime religious journey in the Muslim Holy Land, which ends in Eid al-Adha. Canceling the pilgrimage would be a first since the Gulf kingdom was founded in 1932 and could cost Saudi Arabia millions in visitor revenue.

Saudi Arabia has a high number of COVID-19 cases, and with the ongoing worldwide travel restrictions, the Saudi government said it will make a decision within the week about cancelling the 2020 hajj. 

“The issue has been carefully studied and different scenarios are being considered. An official decision will be made within one week,” a senior official from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of the Hajj and Umrah told the Financial Times on June 12.

One idea the ministry is considering is allowing a small number of local Saudi pilgrims, around 20% of the usual number, to complete the hajj.

“All options are on the table but the priority is for the health and safety of pilgrims,” the official said.

Read also: COVID-19 Found in Crew of Kuwait Ship Docked in Australia

COVID-19 Clusters Shutter Yemen, Philippines Embassies in Saudi Arabia

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With over 123,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, Saudi Arabia has one of the highest counts in the Gulf, and the latest embassy closures show that even diplomatic missions have not managed to escape the novel virus.  

The Embassy of Yemen, located in the Diplomatic Quarter of Riyadh, announced its closure through its official Facebook page at 6 p.m. on the evening of Saturday, June 13. 

“The Embassy of the Republic of Yemen in Riyadh announces suspension of work from tomorrow Sunday, 14/6/2020 indefinitely due to the emergence of a number of cases of Coronavirus-19,” the post read.

“The embassy wishes everyone good health and wellness,” it concluded. The Yemeni Embassy had long been closed to the public due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Saudi Arabia and only began accepting consular appointments again on June 11. 

Meanwhile, on June 10, the Embassy of the Philippines, also located in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter, said it would also be forced to close again, “effective June 14 2020 until further notice,” after identifying a coronavirus cluster among staff of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO).  

“POLO-Riyadh officials and staff need to undergo quarantine processes after several of them recently tested positive for COVID-19,” the embassy said in an official press release. 

“Embassy personnel who recently came in contact with the infected POLO-Riyadh employees shall also undergo quarantine and COVID-19 testing to ensure the safety of the transacting public,” it added.    

The statement did not specify how many staff members were infected with COVID-19, but Arab Times reports six staff members tested positive for the virus. The office will be subject to deep cleaning and sterilization while staff work from home, according to the same source.  

Services at the Embassy of the Philippines, which only reopened on June 7, will not be affected. POLO-Riyadh personnel will continue to offer client services and counselling over the phone, the embassy added.

Read also: A New Caste: Houthis Divide Yemen with Tax Reform

Has Saudi-Arabia Won the Oil Price War?

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Riyadh will likely celebrate in receipt of a new report by investment bank JP Morgan Chase. “Saudi Arabia will come out on top in the fight for market share as non-OPEC and U.S. production fades,” Christyan Malek, a managing director at JP Morgan Chase told Reuters. The report predicts that Saudi Arabia’s share of the oil market will be the highest since the 1980s.

It appears Saudi Arabia has increased its market share because of a decline in higher-cost oil production around the world, a development unimaginable even a year ago. The development will be much-needed positive news for most OPEC countries who have collectively seen a dramatic drop in government revenue because of a historic drop in oil prices.

Amid low oil prices, investment in the development of new fields drops and higher-cost oil production such as American shale gas or oil produced from Canadian tar-sands is no longer profitable. Because of the massive global scale of oil production, even a temporary dip in investment or bankruptcies of competitors can give low-cost producers an advantage for the foreseeable future.

Oil price war

Saudi Arabia and Russia together drove down oil prices by refusing to curb production even before the COVID-19 pandemic drove down demand to unprecedented levels. The combination of high production levels and dropping demand meant oil prices crashed to hit an absolute first: They fell to negative $40 as the expiration date for oil futures approached with no buyers for the actual crude.

While low oil prices are extremely painful for the state budgets of both Russia and Saudi Arabia, for countries where oil is produced at a much higher cost, like in the US shale gas industry, such low prices are potentially lethal.

Large-scale state-owned oil producers such as Saudi Arabia’s Aramco can dial back production without too much long-term damage, but for smaller producers that depend on a few wells or fields, closing down wells can mean buckling under debt and going bankrupt.

Saudi market share

By keeping production high while demand was dropping, Saudi Arabia directly influenced global oil prices. Media reported on the decision to continue high production levels as a price war between Russia and the Saudis continued until both countries agreed on production cuts in April.

However, both countries ultimately stood to benefit much more from a drop in production in the US than any fathomable end-game of a Russo-Saudi dispute could have realized. This begs the question if their “disagreement” was ever the real underlying motivation.

Russia and Saudi Arabia were both declining in market share as the US enjoyed its “shale gas revolution” over the last decade, with no end in sight. Although Russia likely has unexplored oil and gas reserves, the Saudi reserves have little way to go but down.

Their gamble to continue oil production and even send cheap crude to the already overflowing US oil market appears to have paid off in the long-run.

US shale gas decline

The victims of the geopolitical plays to influence oil prices will be those working in the US shale gas industry. While environmental groups will likely cheer the decline of shale gas, or “fracking,” millions of Americans are employed in the industry, working-class people who have been part of the essential workforce that has kept America running throughout the first wave of the pandemic.

Adopting a Green New Deal would more than offset these jobs with new positions in industries that support a healthy environment and provide good working conditions. However, hope for such a legislative move runs thin amid entrenched partisan tensions.

The international supermajors have already written off previously cherished gas assets in a sign of the time, yet the fate of Chesapeake Energy, one of the US shale gas pioneers, could signal what World Oil called “the end of an era.”

Because of the absence of available credit that saved many smaller oil firms during the last oil crash in 2015-2016, many smaller companies are now facing bankruptcies. The continued uncertainty over the future value of oil assets makes mergers and acquisition a risky game.

Between January and May, 18 oil and gas firms filed for bankruptcy protection in North America with more expected as “lower for longer” becomes the expectation.

The Saudi-led OPEC bloc has now promised to extend production cuts with an additional one-month voluntary cut, which is enough to prevent a new crash in oil prices, but likely not enough to help US producers.

Lebanon: Currency Collapse, Protests Trigger Emergency Cabinet Meeting

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Angry citizens in cities across Lebanon shrugged off recent sectarian clashes to present a united front that called for Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh and Prime Minister Hassan Diab to resign in the wake of a spectacular currency devaluation.

Violent skirmishes with security forces and arson punctuated last night’s demonstrations and, amid calls for calm, triggered an emergency cabinet meeting on the morning of Friday, June 10. 

Pound plunge 

The currency hit a new low on Wednesday and Thursday, trading at 5,000 pounds to the dollar on the country’s parallel market. After trading at an official rate of 1,500 pounds to the dollar for 35 years, there were rumors the Lebanese pound hit highs of 6,000-7,000 pounds to the dollar on Thursday, although those appear to be unfounded. 

The dramatic plunge represents a 25% depreciation in the Lebanese pound in just two days. 

The pound has lost 70% of its value since protests kicked off last October and is heading into uncertain territory as neighboring Syria’s currency has also spiraled out of control in recent days, ahead of a fresh round of economic sanctions. 

The cost of living has risen exponentially, dollars are scarce, and, as the recent drop shows, the government’s efforts to stabilize the currency have so far failed.   

In response to the raging protests, Diab called an emergency cabinet meeting on Friday morning. In attendance was controversial Central Bank Governor Salameh, who many believe is responsible for mishandling Lebanon’s foreign currency reserves and the exchange rate. 

Speaking after an additional meeting between himself, Diab, and President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri ruled out sacking the Central Bank governor.  

“It was agreed with President Aoun and PM Diab to lower the dollar exchange rate as of today to below LBP 4,000 and gradually to 3,200, but the results will not begin appearing before Monday,” Berri announced on Friday afternoon.  

Berri added the ruling triumvirate will be “addressing the International Monetary Fund with a unified language,” referring to the ongoing negotiations with the IMF over a bailout triggered by Lebanon’s sovereign debt default, and ensuing economic deterioration. 

“Citizens in a State,a new political party which has gained a large following during the October revolt, rejected the government’s announcement and instead called for more protests on Saturday. 

Citizens in a State, backed by a coalition of 20 civil society movements, parties, and unions, is calling for Diab’s administration to be replaced by a transitional government with exceptional powers to drag the country out of the economic and political crisis it is now mired in.  

Protestors set up roadblocks and tents amid last night’s fury, indicating they are again in for the long-haul after a COVID-19-enforced break. Hezbollah and Amal supporters, who were behind last weekend’s unsettling sectarian violence, also rushed to join last night’s protests, according to Lebanese journalist Luna Safwan.

“With Hezbollah and Amal supporters joining the protests tonight, it seems that there’s a plan to take down the cabinet. Back to October 17th 2019,” Safwan tweeted last night. 

Thursday night’s fiery protests 

The streets of Beirut, Saida, Jal el Dib, Tripoli, Zouk, and many other cities filled with major demonstrations for the first time since the October 17 uprisings that brought down ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri. 

There was nothing to be seen of the sectarian clashes that punctuated demonstrations on June 6, with large moped-convoys of residents from majority-Shia suburbs joining the protests shouting, “Shia, Sunni, F*ck sectarianism.” 

In Beirut, law enforcement was minimal, and protestors set a massive bonfire directly in front of the country’s seat of government. Protestors set a branch of the Central Bank alight in Tripoli, along with tire barricades, billboards and other buildings. When riot police did try to disperse demonstrators in downtown Beirut, young men pelted them with rocks and fireworks, screaming “the riot police are sons of b**.”

The currency crash has reduced first responders’ wages to a pittance, and like the protestors they are supposed to control, police and fire crews are growing tired of the declining economic situation. 

“Why do you destroy shops and things and attack us security forces—do you think we’re happy? Go and f****** break that wall or go to the politicians’ houses,” a police officer told Al Jazeera as he stood by, watching protestors tear down a barrier set up to protect Parliament.  

“In the end we are with you and we want the country to change. Don’t you dare think we’re happy. My salary is now worth $130,” the officer added. 

The Civil Defence, whom the fire brigades fall under, later told local news channel LBCI they did not fight the many of the fires around Beirut, because they had no diesel to run their fire trucks—just another consequence of Lebanon’s economic implosion. 

The government — under intense pressure from protestors, the currency collapse, COVID-19, and Lebanon’s unenviable economic situation — will be waiting on tenterhooks to see what eventuates tonight, and if the protest movement maintains momentum.

Read also: Despairing Domestic Workers Dumped at Ethiopian Consulate in Lebanon

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