Sri Lankan Military Imposes Curfew After President Flees |
Sri Lanka’s military is patrolling the streets (Reuters) of the capital, Colombo, after mass demonstrations prompted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country yesterday. Today, he arrived in Singapore from the Maldives, the Straits Times reported. Rajapaksa had pledged to resign yesterday, but he reportedly has not yet done so.
Demonstrators have called for Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to step down amid a spiraling economic crisis that stands as a warning sign for other highly indebted countries. The director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said earlier this week that 60 percent of low-income countries are at or near debt distress (Devex). The global spike in food and energy prices exacerbated Sri Lanka’s debt problems, and the country has faced fuel and electricity shortages in recent weeks.
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“The chances of such global co-operation [on debt relief] seem more distant today than at the start of the pandemic. The people of Sri Lanka, and of other likely defaulters, will bear the cost,” the Financial Times’ editorial board writes.
“Successive governments felt no urgency to tackle the buildup of debt. They seem to have made the lackadaisical assumption that they needed only to use foreign currency revenues to meet interest rate payments and that they could keep rolling over the more substantial principal payments,” the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka’s Dushni Weerakoon writes in Foreign Affairs. |
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Solomon Islands’ Leader Vows Not to Host Chinese Military Base |
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said his government will not allow a Chinese military base (The Guardian) in the country, despite recently signing a security pact with China. He described Australia as the Solomon Islands’ “security partner of choice.”
China: Youth unemployment topped 18 percent (Nikkei), the highest on record for job seekers ages sixteen to twenty-four. Business shutdowns due to COVID-19 have led to one of China’s worst job markets in decades. |
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Pakistan, IMF Reach Preliminary Deal to Resume Loan Payouts |
The agreement still requires approval (Dawn) from the IMF board. The IMF had stopped disbursing loan funds in March after Pakistan strayed from the IMF’s policy targets by imposing fuel subsidies. To reach a deal, Pakistan started to remove subsidies. |
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Middle East and North Africa |
I2U2 Holds Virtual Summit |
It was the first meeting of the new grouping known as I2U2, which consists of India, Israel, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates. The countries pledged to cooperate (Times of Israel) on food security, technology, and clean energy.
U.S./Israel: The countries released a joint declaration in which the United States pledged to use (White House) “all elements of national power” to ensure that Iran doesn’t obtain a nuclear weapon.
In this virtual event, Robert J. Einhorn, Arshad A. Mohammed, Laura Rockwood, and CFR’s Elliott Abrams discuss Iran’s nuclear program. |
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France’s Macron Asks Ministers to Rethink All Military Postures in Africa |
French President Emmanuel Macron made the comments (Reuters) as French officials prepare to travel to Niger to redefine France’s military strategy in the Sahel. UK/Djibouti: London police launched an investigation (The Guardian) into Olympic runner Mo Farah’s announcement that he was trafficked from Djibouti to the United Kingdom (UK) as a child. |
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UN Hails Progress on Talks to Unblock Ukrainian Grain Exports |
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Argentina Raises Tax on Foreign Currency Transactions |
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FDA Authorizes Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine |
The shot is the first protein-based vaccine (STAT) for COVID-19 to be authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expected to recommend the vaccine later this month, which would pave the way for it to be offered to Americans. |
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Council on Foreign Relations |
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