Russia Bombards Ukrainian Grain Silos As Black Sea Port Becomes Flash Point |
Russia carried out strikes (Reuters) on southern Ukrainian ports for the fourth consecutive night yesterday, while both Russia and Ukraine warned they would treat ships (FT) in the Black Sea as military targets. Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian ports killed at least three people on Thursday and have injured at least twenty-three others, Ukrainian officials said.
International officials have scrambled to find ways to keep shipping lanes open after Russia’s withdrawal Monday from a deal allowing grain shipments to leave Ukrainian ports. Since last August, the Black Sea Grain Initiative has allowed nearly thirty-three million metric tons (CNN) of foodstuffs to be exported from Ukraine. Wheat prices have soared twelve percent in the last week alone.
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“Russia is sending a clear signal that it is less willing to work through the UN to make compromises with the West,” the International Crisis Group’s Richard Gowan tells Al-Monitor. “It looks like Russia is willing to hurt its credibility in the Global South to do short-term damage to Ukraine and the Western powers.”
“Crops from the breadbasket nation of Ukraine are sent around the world, including to poor countries in Africa and Asia, and the Black Sea grain deal has been crucial for that. There are alternative river, rail and road routes via the European Union—which Ukraine has already been using—but they’re more costly and simply can’t handle all the volumes,” Bloomberg’s Nicholas Larkin writes.
In this In Brief, CFR’s Kali Robinson looks at which countries are hurt the most by Russia’s exit from the grain deal.
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Deal Between World Bank, China-Backed Bank To Allow New Lending |
A partnership between the World Bank and the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is due to move forward (FT) with the AIIB greenlighting $1 billion in credit guarantees for lending. The deal was stalled after a Canadian official at the AIIB quit in June over objections to what he called excessive Chinese political control.
China/U.S.: Hackers linked to China breached the official email accounts of U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns and Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for East Asia Daniel Kritenbrink in an attack that has compromised hundreds of thousands of messages, the Wall Street Journal reported.
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India, Sri Lanka to Consider Building Oil Pipeline, Bridge |
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed on feasibility studies (Nikkei) for a petroleum pipeline and a bridge between the two countries. The projects were discussed in the Sri Lankan leader’s first visit to New Delhi, as Sri Lanka seeks to climb out of its national debt. India has been keen to enhance bilateral cooperation to counter Chinese influence.
India: The government announced it will ban the export (Indian Express) of non-Basmati white rice effective immediately, to try to control domestic prices and maintain its availability in Indian markets.
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Middle East and North Africa |
U.S. Increases Military Presence in Persian Gulf Following Iranian Seizures |
The Biden administration approved sending marine and air units (Al-Monitor) to the Gulf in response to a series of Iranian seizures of commercial tankers, U.S. officials said. Iran has been ramping up retaliation against U.S confiscation of sanctioned oil headed to East Asia.
Israel: At least fifteen people were arrested (Times of Israel) in the latest round of protests against Israel’s judicial overhaul bill, police said. The demonstrations followed a nationally televised speech from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, in which he defended the bill and denied its threat to democracy.
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CFR’s Robert McMahon and Carla Anne Robbins discuss Russia pulling out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Spain’s snap elections, the global consequences of the Hollywood strikes, and more. |
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UK Announces New Sanctions on Wagner-Linked Entities in Africa |
The sanctions target people and businesses (Bloomberg) that the United Kingdom government believes are linked to the Russian Wagner Group in Mali, the Central African Republic, and Sudan, where the private military company is accused of executions, torture, and threats to peace. This In Brief by William Rampe explains what Wagner is doing in Africa.
Kenya: Watchdog group Independent Medico Legal Unit told the Associated Press that Kenyan police killed six people this week amid anti-government protests over the rising cost of living. Kenya’s interior ministry and police did not immediately respond to journalist requests for comment.
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Spain Prepares for Election That Could Put Conservatives in Power |
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called Sunday’s snap elections after his center-left party performed poorly in local elections in May. Public opinion polls showed the conservative Popular Party had high support (BBC), but could struggle to form a government alone. |
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Argentina Official: Lithium Battery Production Will Start in September |
A plant that is jointly run by the National University of La Plata and a subsidiary of Argentina’s state-run oil company will produce battery cells (MercoPress) for two thousand homes, an official at the company said.
This episode of the Why It Matters podcast looks at lithium’s role in the global energy transition.
Ecuador: Around 1,200 barrels of crude oil spilled from a sea terminal (Reuters) on Ecuador’s northeast coast after a tank exceeded its capacity, with some of the oil reaching the beach, authorities said.
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Biden Announces First Auction of Offshore Wind Rights in Gulf of Mexico |
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Rest of World details how an Argentinian artist harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) to imagine what hundreds of abducted infants in the 1970s would look like today, highlighting the unique uses and limitations of generative AI. |
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