G7 Launches Global Infrastructure Initiative, Weighs Efforts to Tame Oil Prices |
Group of Seven (G7) leaders formally launched (Politico) a $600 billion infrastructure plan for developing countries. The initiative aims to offer an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative and will invest in global infrastructure over the next five years. Leaders also committed to researching how a price cap on Russian oil could be imposed in the months ahead, a U.S. official told Reuters.
With Russia’s war in Ukraine dominating the G7 summit agenda, the leaders vowed (AP) to “stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes” and said they will continue to provide financial, humanitarian, military, and diplomatic support. They are expected to announce new sanctions on Russia tomorrow. Separately, the White House said that Russia defaulted on its international bonds for the first time in more than a century due to the current sanctions regime.
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“Much of the West’s diplomatic energies will rightly go into sustaining its support for Ukraine. Equally important, however, is for Western leaders to think more ambitiously about restoring the crumbling rules-based order,” CFR’s James M. Lindsay and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ Ivo H. Daalder write for Foreign Affairs. “China is well ahead [of Western governments] in infrastructure diplomacy—spending $50 billion to $100 billion a year on foreign infrastructure for a decade now,” Politico’s Ryan Heath writes.
For the Internationalist blog, CFR’s Stewart M. Patrick discusses the G7, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the future of the West. |
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Japan Heat Wave Brings Hospitalizations, Warnings to Conserve Energy |
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India, EU Relaunch Trade Talks After Near-Decade Hiatus |
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Middle East and North Africa |
Iran Nuclear Deal Talks Expected to Restart in ‘Coming Days’ |
Both Iranian and EU negotiators said the talks will recommence (Al Jazeera) as soon as this week. The negotiations have been stalled since March. At this virtual meeting, CFR’s Elliott Abrams discusses Iran’s nuclear program with Arshad Mohammed, Robert J. Einhorn, and Laura Rockwood.
U.S./Middle East: The United States convened a secret meeting of military officials from Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia in March to discuss Iran’s missile capabilities, the Wall Street Journal reported. |
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Sudan Accuses Ethiopian Military of Executing Captured Soldiers |
Sudan’s military vowed to respond (AFP) after Ethiopian forces reportedly killed seven Sudanese soldiers and one civilian.
Kenya: The International Monetary Fund delayed a loan (Bloomberg) that Kenya was counting on to meet its external financing requirements this month. |
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Russian Rockets Hit Kyiv for First Time in Three Weeks |
Russian missiles struck residential buildings in Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi District yesterday, killing one person (The Guardian) and wounding at least six, Ukrainian officials said. |
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Ecuadorian President Announces Fuel Price Cuts to Appease Protesters |
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Multiple States Severely Limit Abortion Following Supreme Court Ruling |
At least eleven states either banned or severely restricted (NPR) abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Twelve other states have laws not yet in effect that could result in similar restrictions, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro–abortion rights research organization.
CFR’s Women and Foreign Policy Program compares abortion laws around the world. |
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Council on Foreign Relations
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