US hails fired Israeli defense chief Gallant as ‘important partner’

LUANDA: Shots rang out as Angola’s capital was gripped by a second day of looting Tuesday, after at least four people were killed and scores arrested when violence erupted during a strike against a fuel price hike.

Transport in Luanda remained suspended and shops closed after massive looting on Monday, the first day of the taxi drivers’ strike to condemn the July 1 price rise, which had already led to several protests.

Gunfire could be heard in central Luanda’s Cazenga area, where people were seen taking food and other items from shops, an AFP reporter said.

Images shared on social media showed clashes in the Rocha Pinto suburb near the airport and security forces deploying to a street where burning rubbish bins barricaded a road in the Prenda area.

The government’s decision to raise heavily subsidised fuel prices from 300 to 400 kwanzas ($0.33 to $0.43) a liter in July has caused anger in Angola, one of Africa’s top oil producers where many people live in poverty.

“We are tired ... they must announce something for things to change ... for us to live in better conditions,” a protester told Angola’s TV Nzinga.

“Why do you make us suffer like this? How will we feed our children? The prices have to go down,” a woman said, addressing President Joao Lourenco.

Police reported “a few isolated incidents of disorder” early Tuesday and said people involved “were repelled and continue to be repelled.”

“We currently report four deaths,” Deputy Commissioner Mateus Rodrigues told reporters in a briefing about Monday’s violence. He did not specify how they occurred.

Police rounded up 400 people overnight for suspected involvement in the unrest after arresting 100 on Monday, he said.

About 45 shops were vandalized, while 25 private vehicles and 20 public buses were damaged, he said. Banks were also targeted.

“We continue to stress that our forces are on the streets, equipped with the necessary resources based on the threat level, responding where order has been restored to maintain it, and intervening where there are still disturbances to reestablish public order and peace,” he said.

AFP photographs on Monday showed people running off with items looted from shops, while images posted on social media showed large crowds of protesters and, separately, police pushing back groups of people.

Local media reports said security forces had used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds.

A journalist in the city of Huambo, around 600 kilometers (370 miles) from Luanda, said there had also been looting and rioting there.

The New Alliance of Taxi Drivers Association (ANATA) distanced itself from Monday’s violence but said the three-day strike would continue.

It “has become clear that the voice of the taxi drivers reflects the outcry of the Angolan people,” the association said in a statement Tuesday.

Around 2,000 people demonstrated against the fuel hike on Saturday, with protests also held the previous two weekends.

Human Rights Watch said police had used excessive force in the July 12 protest, including firing tear gas and rubber bullets.

In a joint statement on Monday, civil society groups condemned the July 19 arrest of one of the organizers of the protests, Osvaldo Sergio Correia Caholo.

He was a “victim of the oppression in Angola, where freedoms and fundamental guarantees are constantly being trampled upon,” they said.

The protests were a “direct consequence” of the government’s failure to address unemployment, high living costs and a decline in public services, the Uyele civic group said.

It is “urgent to understand that we are facing a serious symptom: the social exhaustion of a youth with no alternatives,” it said in a statement.

Lourenco’s MPLA party has ruled Angola, which has a population of around 33 million, since its independence from Portugal in 1975.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s crackdown on black market dollar trading has strengthened the rupee, but traders say under-the-counter deals have swiftly shifted to smartphones and home deliveries instead.

Many unlicensed exchange shops have been shut since July 22, when the military spy agency summoned representatives of the sector to explain the US dollar’s rising cost in the open market. Soon after, raids were carried out by the Federal Investigation Agency, which tackles financial crime and smuggling.

Since the crackdown began, the rupee has rebounded from a sharp fall against the dollar earlier in July. In the open market, it firmed from 288.6 per dollar on July 19 to about 286 in recent sessions.

But traders and bankers say the trade continues, suggesting the crackdown’s effects could be short-lived.

The black market operates outside official channels and includes unlicensed dealers, personal networks, and digital peer-to-peer exchanges, with customers seeking to skip tax declarations, avoid burdensome paperwork and bypass limits on official currency purchases.

In Peshawar, a city near the Afghan border long known for black market currency deals, many shops in the historic Chowk Yadgar district remain shuttered, though some traders were still operating discreetly in back-alley booths.

“The trade didn’t stop. It just moved,” said Ahmad, a dealer whose family has been in the business for generations. “Now it’s on WhatsApp. If you know someone, the dollars come to your house.”

“The big players have shifted to safer locations and kept going,” said another trader, Gul. Both traders asked not to give their full names.

Even retail buyers are bypassing the formal foreign exchange market. Hassan, a manager at a multinational firm in Karachi, said stricter documentation drove him to an informal forex chat.

“Everyone there is a buyer or seller. No middleman, no commission. Sometimes it’s physical cash, sometimes bank transfers, sometimes crypto,” he said.

STRICTER FX DISCIPLINE

On Monday, Pakistan’s central bank called in bank treasury heads to address pressure on the rupee. Two bankers said they were told to stop buying dollars from exchange companies at above-official rates on the grounds it was skewing the market.

Banks were asked to rely on their own inflows from exports and remittances, but both sources have slowed. Exporters are delaying bringing money home, betting the rupee will weaken. Remittances are also tapering off as banks reduce incentives once offered to attract overseas inflows.

Authorities also pressed banks to keep the gap between the interbank rate and the open market rate narrow, a condition of Pakistan’s $7 billion IMF deal meant to discourage speculation.

“These meetings have been happening for years, but this one was more pointed,” one banker said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The central bank is expected to cut rates on Wednesday, easing inflation but risking pressure on the rupee.​