A week for reflection: Afghanistan a year on, and 75 years since partition

Whats up and welcome to the working week.

There may be an anniversary on nearly on daily basis of the 12 months, however some carry extra historic significance than others, and that is a type of weeks.

Afghanistan has two anniversaries arising. Friday is Independence Day, commemorating the signing of the Treaty of Rawalpindi in 1919, through which Britain granted Afghanistan self-determination over its international affairs. Nevertheless, most will probably be extra involved with Monday, which marks a 12 months because the Taliban regained management. The FT has produced a collection of articles about how society and the economy has changed because the non secular group’s return to energy 12 months in the past, and they’re price a learn.

This week additionally begins with the seventy fifth anniversary of the British withdrawal from the Indian subcontinent, marking the partition of India and Pakistan. India’s prime minister Narendra Modi is to handle the nation from historic Purple Fort in Delhi with the main target prone to be on the troubles in Kashmir, the nation’s solely Muslim-majority state.

For British schoolchildren, it’s all in regards to the current as college students in England, Wales and Northern Eire on Thursday obtain the emails and envelopes containing their A-level and vocational examination outcomes. The duty of accepting and discovering college locations by means of the clearing course of will then start in earnest.

As with the Advanced Higher exam scores introduced for Scottish faculty college students final week, the A-level outcomes are anticipated to be down on final 12 months, however in all probability up on pre-pandemic years. The examination physique AQA has stated papers will probably be more generously graded to replicate the return to normal test conditions. Perhaps, you’re of an opinion that the entire system of examinations should be abolished? FT columnist-turned-teacher Lucy Kellaway appears to be like on the pressures going through schoolchildren and the problem of tension in colleges.

Some occasions are taking place at a extra frequent price this 12 months, particularly British strikes. The UK’s summer time of discontent will probably be marked by one other nationwide rail strike this week, made worse by a normal walkout throughout London’s public transport networks. Subsequent Sunday, greater than 1,900 staff at Britain’s greatest container port Felixstowe are set to strike, plus now we have one other week of the prison barristers’ strike at courts in England and Wales, with no decision in sight.

So how about some excellent news? We’re about to take a major step ahead — a giant leap, even — in Nasa’s Artemis area programme. The mission goals to land the primary lady and minority ethnic astronaut on the Moon, getting ready for a long-term lunar presence and offering a stepping stone to sending people to Mars. Nasa plans to livestream the switch of the Artemis 1 rocket to the launch pad on Wednesday with the goal of finishing lift-off by the top of the month.

Financial knowledge

Inflation watchers will probably be saved busy this week with updates from the EU, Japan and Canada, plus, on Wednesday the publication of the Federal Open Market Committee’s newest assembly minutes will maybe give some indication of the Fed’s willingness to tighten financial coverage.

Additionally it is going to be a busy week for British financial information with figures on employment, inflation, productiveness, retail gross sales, shopper confidence and home costs (is the market at a turning point?). All are prone to garner touch upon the state of UK plc.

Firms

On-line sellers had a reasonably good pandemic, largely as a result of shoppers had few different choices when making purchases through the lockdowns. Now that journey restrictions have been lifted, it’s the flip of the service sector to revenue, as proven in current outcomes for airways and resort chains. My colleague Brooke Masters explains.

This week we attain the tail-end of the present reporting season with outcomes from a clutch of outlets which might be both purely on-line or have benefited drastically from ecommerce, notably Walmart on Tuesday, Goal and Tencent a day later, and AO World on Thursday.

AO World is attempting to shift its business model away from gross sales progress to constructing and sustaining margins. The issue for such retailers as we enter an financial slowdown will probably be sustaining enough gross sales demand.

Key financial and firm studies

Here’s a extra full record of what to anticipate by way of firm studies and financial knowledge this week.

Monday

• Canada, month-to-month manufacturing survey plus wholesale commerce figures

• China, July retail gross sales and industrial manufacturing figures

• India, month-to-month commerce statistics

• Japan, month-to-month industrial manufacturing figures

• Nigeria, month-to-month inflation knowledge

• UK, Rightmove home worth index

• US, Federal Reserve board of governors member Christopher Waller offers opening remarks to the 2022 Summer season Workshop on Money, Banking, Payments, and Finance hosted by the Fed

• Outcomes: HelloFresh H1, Henkel H1, Phoenix Group H1, Saudi Aramco H1 monetary assertion (outcomes and dividend introduced on Sunday), Westpac Q3 buying and selling replace

Tuesday

• Australia, minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s August coverage assembly

• Colombia, Q2 GDP knowledge

• EU, worldwide items commerce figures

• Germany, ZEW financial sentiment survey

• UK, flash Q2 productiveness estimate plus employment statistics

• US, July industrial manufacturing plus residential development figures

• Outcomes: BHP Billiton FY, Genuit Group H1, Residence Depot Q2, Pandora H1, Softline Q1 buying and selling replace, Walmart Q2

Wednesday

• Bulgaria, flash Q2 GDP knowledge

• Dubai Worldwide Airport, the world’s busiest for worldwide passenger site visitors, studies passenger site visitors figures for the primary half of the 12 months

• France, wheat harvest high quality report

• New Zealand, rate of interest choice

• UK, July producer worth index (PPI) knowledge, plus Workplace for Nationwide Statistics (ONS) non-public housing rental worth knowledge and home worth index

• US, Federal Open Market Committee publishes the minutes of its July assembly

• Outcomes: Balfour Beatty H1, Carlsberg H1, Cisco Methods This fall, Glanbia H1, Lowe’s Cos Q2, Persimmon H1, Santos H1, Swiss Life H1, Goal Q2, Tencent Q2

Thursday

• Canada, July shopper worth index (CPI), plus industrial product and uncooked supplies worth indices

• EU, July inflation figures

• Outcomes: AO World FY, AutoStore Q2, Estée Lauder This fall, Geberit H1, Hella FY, Kohl’s Q2, Marshalls H1, Origin Vitality FY, Rank Group FY

Friday

• Canada, month-to-month retail commerce figures

• Germany, month-to-month PPI figures for industrial merchandise

• Japan, July CPI figures

• UK, GfK shopper confidence survey, ONS July retail gross sales knowledge and month-to-month commerce figures

• Outcomes: Deere & Firm Q3, Kingspan H1, Customary Financial institution H1

World occasions

Lastly, here’s a rundown of different occasions and milestones this week.

Monday

• Afghanistan, first anniversary because the Taliban seized again energy

• France, Italy, Spain: Assumption Day public vacation

• India, Independence Day celebrations on the seventy fifth anniversary of the top of British rule

• Japan, 77th anniversary of Japan’s give up and the top of the second world conflict. Emperor Naruhito, empress Masako and prime minister Yoshihide Suga attend a commemorative ceremony on the Budokan stadium in Tokyo.

• UK, additional industrial motion from prison barristers in England and Wales, who’ve been placing over authorized assist funding. Additionally, greater than 500 Unite members at Liverpool’s container ports will shut their poll for strike motion in a dispute over pay and situations.

Tuesday

• Bahamas, leaders of the Caribbean nations meet for a two-day convention on the Baha Mar resort to debate the area’s method to the COP27 local weather talks in Egypt in November

• US, the forty fifth anniversary of the loss of life of Elvis Presley at his residence in Memphis

Wednesday

• Belgium, Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg meets Kosovo’s prime minister Albin Kurti in Brussels amid rising tensions between Kosovo and Serbia. A day later, Kurti is because of meet Serbian president Aleksandr Vucic.

• Indonesia, Independence Day nationwide vacation

• Norway, the nation’s oil wealth fund, one of many world’s largest funds, studies half-year figures at Arendalsuka

• US, former vice-president Mike Pence speaks at Politics & Eggs on the New Hampshire Institute of Politics

Thursday

• UK, A-level and vocational examination outcomes — together with the brand new T-Level technical qualifications — for college college students in England, Wales and Northern Eire. Plus, about 40,000 members of the Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT), Unite and the Transport Salaried Staffs Affiliation (TSSA) unions to stage nationwide practice strike over pay and redundancies points.

• US, Nasa’s House Launch System will probably be rolled out to Launch Pad 39B on the Kennedy House Middle forward of the Artemis 1 moon mission.

Friday

• Montenegro, no-confidence vote anticipated on the minority authorities led by prime minister Dritan Abazović after he signed a controversial agreement with the highly effective Serbian Orthodox Church, opposed by human rights activists and pro-western events

• UK, about 10,000 members of the RMT union employed by Transport for London, 400 Overground employees working at Arriva Rail London and greater than 1,600 bus drivers, primarily in west London, will strike in separate disputes over jobs and pay. Additionally, Welsh Water imposes its first hosepipe ban for Pembrokeshire since 1976 because of the arid climate situations.

Saturday

• Hungary, State Basis Day public vacation celebrated with fireworks on the banks of the River Danube

• UK, the RMT, Unite and the TSSA union members will maintain one other day of strike motion on the nationwide railways over pay and redundancies points. Plus, an illustration is deliberate in London calling for an early normal election.

Sunday

• Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz begins a state go to to Canada

• US, Hawaii Statehood Day commemorating its institution because the fiftieth state admitted into the union in 1959

• UK, members of the Unite union at Britain’s largest container port, Felixstowe, start strike motion in a dispute over pay