Global Developments and Analysis: Weekly Monitor (22-28 July 2024)

Economic

US Spars with China Over Who Subsidizes Its Industries the Most

The US and China sparred over industrial subsidies at the World Trade Organization on July 26, with Beijing asking to set up a dispute panel to review the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credits and Washington responding by accusing China of hypocrisy. China described the IRA — President Joe Biden’s flagship environmental and industrial policy — as perhaps the biggest subsidy program ever enacted, according to a Geneva-based trade official. For China, some of the act’s provisions that favour domestic over imported goods are against international trade law, the official said, adding that now isn’t the time to ignore the WTO principle of non-discrimination. The US objected to the request to set up a dispute panel, saying the IRA is an essential strategy for mitigating the global climate emergency. Washington accused China of being hypocritical given its domestic support for clean-energy producers and use of non-market practices that threaten all WTO members, according to the official. With the US’s objection, the establishment of the panel was blocked, the official said. The WTO recently highlighted China’s “lack of transparency” on its industrial subsidies, saying that Beijing does not provide information on how much it spends in sectors from electric cars to semiconductors. Click here to read… [2]

Third plenum: China wants to be better prepared for strategic risks like economic sanctions

Beijing has vowed to improve “early warning” systems to better protect national security related to foreign affairs and its overseas interests – a move analysts say is about identifying strategic risks like the threat of economic sanctions. It was one of a number of policy decisions for the next five years approved by China’s top leadership at last week’s Communist Party conclave, the third plenum. A lengthy document with the full text of those decisions was released on July 21, with a section on building the mechanisms needed to ensure national security in foreign affairs. It calls national security “a pivotal foundation for ensuring steady and sustained progress in Chinese modernisation”. “We will strengthen the institutions and mechanisms for early warning, prevention and control, and protection against risks to China’s interests and investments overseas and deepen international law enforcement cooperation in the realm of security,” it reads. This is to “protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese citizens and legal entities overseas”. Zhu Feng, executive dean of Nanjing University’s School of International Studies, said it was critical for Beijing to identify investment risks abroad given its “deep involvement” in Western economic and military systems. “The most important aspect of improving early warning mechanisms is the ability to predict and anticipate major strategic risks that may arise from potential US pressure on China in the future,” he said. Click here to read… [3]

Drive to eliminate global hunger by 2030 has stalled, UN warns

A goal to eliminate global hunger by 2030 looks increasingly impossible to achieve as the number of people suffering chronic hunger has barely changed over the past year, a UN report says. The annual State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, published on July 24, said about 733 million people faced hunger in 2023 – one in 11 people globally and one in five in Africa – as conflict, climate change and economic crises take their toll. David Laborde, director of the division within the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that helps prepare the survey, said that although progress had been made in some regions, the situation had deteriorated on a global level. “We are in a worse situation today than nine years ago when we launched this goal to eradicate hunger by 2030,” he told the news agency Reuters, saying challenges such as climate change and regional wars had grown more severe than envisaged a decade ago. If current trends continue, about 582 million people will be chronically undernourished by the end of the decade, the report said. Regional trends varied significantly with hunger continuing to rise in Africa, where growing populations, wars and climate upheaval weighed heavily. By contrast, Asia has seen little change, and Latin America has improved. Click here to read… [4]

Net-Zero Ambitions Hit Major Roadblocks in Europe, UK, and US

The push to a net-zero emissions future has made governments pledge billions, potentially trillions, in funding for various initiatives, projects, and whole industries. Yet transition targets touted so proudly in Europe, the UK, and the U.S. are proving to be a lot more challenging to hit than expected. Earlier this month, Euronews reported that three of the biggest economies in the EU—Italy, France, and Germany—were falling short of the EU’s targets and on track to be penalized for that. The warning comes from a climate NGO, Transport & Environment, and shows that Germany was going to miss a 40% emission reduction target for 2030 by a whole 10%. And this is Germany, perhaps the most ambitious of the ambitious EU members when it comes to energy transition efforts. Meanwhile in the UK, an energy consultancy has also warned that the country is on a path to missing its climate targets. According to Cornwall Insight, the country will be deriving 44% of its electricity from wind and solar by 2030. Yet this is nowhere near what the UK needs to be generating from wind and solar, per Cornwall Insight, in order to meet its net-zero pledge for 2030. That amount, the consultancy says, as quoted by the Financial Times, is 67%. Click here to read… [5]

G-20 Host Brazil Tests Its Global Influence with Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pitched a global alliance against hunger and poverty, leveraging Brazil’s presidency of the Group of 20 to make an appeal to officials from the world’s most powerful economies. Lula kicked off the plan spotlighting his international ambitions on July 24 at a meeting of G-20 finance chiefs in Rio de Janeiro. The effort seeks to rally governments and other institutions to share ideas while also pooling funds for policies against hunger and poverty that can be replicated globally. The partnership will be a test of Lula’s desire to turbo-charge Brazil’s international leadership on matters from social welfare to economics. The leftist president told reporters this week that the fight against inequality must be a shared responsibility among countries and also a priority for the world. He will now be tasked with securing support from nations rich and poor that could help finance the initiative. “For centuries, hunger and poverty have been surrounded by prejudice and interests,” Lula said. The world’s poor “were ignored by the ruling class and the wealthy, kept at the margin of society and markets.” G-20 members have already signed off on documents that will be made available this week for countries that are interested in participating. Click here to read… [6]

Hong Kong plays leading role in sanctions evasion: report

The surge of Hong Kong shipments to Russia following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 underscores the city's extensive role in helping U.S. adversaries avoid international sanctions, a new analysis published July 22 by the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation shows. The 62-page report, "Beneath the Harbor: Hong Kong's Leading Role in Sanctions Evasion," outlines how Hong Kong companies have helped export goods that are under the U.S. and European Union's list of items -- known as Common High Priority Items -- highlighted as essential technology used by Russia's war machine. The analysis focused on half a dozen previously unreported companies that it alleges helped to export millions of dollars’ worth of high-tech chips to Russia, as well as drone parts to Iran, and assisted illicit ship-to-ship oil transfers for North Korea. The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation is a nonprofit based in Washington that advocates for the city's autonomy, rights and freedoms under Chinese rule. The report analyzed data from global security nonprofit C4ADS and found that Hong Kong consignors shipped $1.97 billion worth of goods to Russian buyers from August to December 2023. Of those goods, 40% by value consisted of 11 items on the high priority list including various semiconductors such as data receivers, digital storage units, computer processors and controllers. Click here to read… [7]

Japan leads record $989bn year of Asian investment in U.S.

Japan was the top source of foreign investment in the U.S. for the fifth consecutive year as Asian investment grew to a record $988.7 billion last year, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Japan led with $783 billion in 2023, followed by Canada with $750 billion, and then Germany and the U.K. Those figures are measured by the country of the ultimate beneficial owner -- the first entity up the ownership chain that is not majority owned by another entity. Japanese companies have topped foreign investment into the country since 2019, when they overtook Canadian businesses. Europe was still the biggest regional source of foreign investment, accounting for $3.5 trillion in 2023, or roughly 65% of the $5.4 trillion total FDI in the U.S. Overall, FDI coming into the country has grown 16% from $4.6 trillion in 2020. The FDI data, published July 23, includes more straightforward investments like acquisitions and establishing new U.S. affiliate businesses with foreign owners, but also transactions like reinvestments of earnings or lending activity. Foreign investment in the U.S. manufacturing sector was the most popular, accounting for 41% of total foreign investment while finance and insurance took the second-largest share at 11%. Click here to read… [8]

Pakistan under pressure to renegotiate hefty Chinese power deals

Pressure is growing on the Pakistani government to iron out agreements with power producers, especially Chinese companies, to bring down its energy bill which forms one of the biggest items in its budget and is an overwhelming burden for the population. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Energy Minister Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Laghari are in Beijing until July 26 for talks with Chinese authorities. Local media reported that their aim is to delay Pakistan's debt payments -- worth more than $15 billion -- by five years. This will save Pakistan roughly $2 billion in debt-servicing costs over the next three years, which would marginally help bring down energy costs and alleviate its foreign exchange crisis. Under plans for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), 21 power plants -- some of them are still under construction -- with a total power generation capacity of more than 9,000 megawatts were to be completed. But electricity theft and distribution problems caused by line losses left the government short of revenue, hindering its ability to repay Chinese power producers. This in turn led its debt to balloon by $1.8 billion, which is a result of additional operational and capacity costs. However, two government officials who are familiar with the situation, told Nikkei Asia on condition of anonymity that it was unlikely that China would concede to Pakistan's request. Click here to read… [9]

WTO members reach digital trade deal to ban tariffs on data

World Trade Organization members negotiating rules on e-commerce agreed July 26 to permanently ban tariffs on cross-border data transmissions. Japan, Australia and Singapore, which co-convened the talks, released the text agreed to by the 91 countries and regions participating in the WTO's e-commerce rulemaking initiative. No countries currently impose duties on international electronic transmissions, and all WTO members have signed on to a moratorium on such tariffs. But this is a time-limited measure set to expire in two years, and there have been calls from industry groups for a permanent provision to head off future duties on a broad category that spans apps, videos and transfers of business-related information. July 26's agreement also covers cybersecurity, transitioning to electronic trade documents, and improving regulatory transparency. Members look to handle other outstanding issues, such as barring governments from requiring companies to store data domestically or turn over source code, in future negotiations. The next steps will include getting the remaining WTO members to agree to the proposed rules and incorporating them into the organization's legal framework. The WTO typically makes decisions through consensus, but clashes between developed and emerging economies have left it struggling to function properly. Since 2017, groups of like-minded WTO members have worked to negotiate rules in specific areas. Click here to read… [10]

China is restricting export of drones that can be used for military purposes and some drone features

China will ban the export of all unregulated civilian drones that can be used for military purposes or in terrorist activities and restrict certain drone features as Beijing faces repeated Western criticism for its stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Commerce Ministry said in a statement July 24 the decision was made also to prevent the use of drones in “the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,” adding that aspects such as infrared imaging equipment lasers for target indication and high-precision inertial measurement equipment will be placed on an export control list. The ministry also said it was removing temporary restrictions placed on civilian drones. It didn’t specify which type, but last year Beijing restricted the exports of long-range drones while citing Russia’s war in Ukraine. The regulations take effect Sept. 1. Media reports and U.S. government intelligence have frequently said Russia has bought drones from China for military use. In April, U.S. officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive findings said China’s sales to Russia have surged to be used against Ukraine, and that both have been working to jointly produce unmanned aerial vehicles inside Russia. Drones have become integral in the Russia-Ukraine war. Click here to read… [11]

Telegram close to a billion users – founder

Encrypted messaging platform Telegram has reached 950 million monthly active users and continues to grow rapidly, its founder Pavel Durov has said. The platform has gained 50 million users since the spring and is on track to reach one billion, the Russian-born IT entrepreneur wrote on his Telegram channel on July 23. In April, Durov reported that the platform had 900 million active monthly users, adding that 450 million log in daily. He cited data from analytical company DataAI showing that his messenger was the sixth most used and downloaded app in the world. Telegram has long been the most popular messaging application in Russia and Ukraine. It has also gained popularity in the rest of the world in recent years, after the Ukraine conflict escalated and even more so after Meta changed the privacy settings of WhatsApp. Like WhatsApp or Messenger, Telegram allows users to send private and group messages. Unlike its American competitors, it also allows users to set up ‘channels’ to disseminate news and updates to followers. The Russian-made social media platform was ranked as the most popular messaging app in Ukraine in 2023, according to SimilarWeb. Kiev, however, has long been calling for a ban on Telegram, describing it as a threat to national security. Click here to read… [12]

US Delays Decision on Vietnam’s Market Economy Status

The announcement of the Biden administration’s decision on whether to classify Vietnam as a market economy, a step that could boost the Southeast Asian nation’s exports, has been extended by a week and will be taken by Aug. 2. The delay on the Commerce Department ruling, previously expected to be made public by July 26, was confirmed by an agency spokesperson in an e-mailed response to questions from Bloomberg News. The US currently classifies Vietnam as a “non-market economy,” which can be disadvantageous to Vietnamese exporters during anti-dumping petitions. The trade-reliant Southeast Asian economy has been pushing to lift its status in the US especially after Hanoi and Washington formally upgraded ties during a visit by President Joe Biden to Vietnam in September last year. The Commerce spokesperson said the disruption from the CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. IT failure that affected “a small number” of anti-dumping and countervailing duty report filings led to the postponement. “The Vietnam non-market economy status case is included among these,” the spokesperson said. Vietnam had said a market economy status in its largest export market would open up more opportunities for a nation where trade accounts for about twice the nation’s total output. The nation filed the request to the Commerce Department on Sept. 8, 2023, citing economic reforms made in recent years. Click here to read… [13]

Russian Firms Face Mounting Payment Issues as Sanctions Bite

Russian President Vladimir Putin is bucking Western efforts to isolate him internationally, meeting with more than 20 world leaders just since May. Russian businesses aren’t so lucky. New US restrictions imposed in June to stem support for the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine have put local banks in countries that trade with Russia at a higher risk of so-called secondary penalties, increasingly delaying or disrupting payments to and from places like China and Turkey. That’s making it difficult, and sometimes impossible, to execute transactions, particularly with China, arguably Russia’s most important economic partner since the start of the 2022 war. While issues with transferring profits out of another key trading partner, India, have eased from the first years of the war, they haven’t been completely resolved because the rupee isn’t fully convertible and transacting through third countries is expensive, a person close to Russia’s government said, declining to be identified because the information isn’t public. The difficulties threaten to disrupt Russia’s trade with economic partners it has relied on since the European Union and the US imposed unprecedented sanctions that significantly diminished business links following the invasion of Ukraine. Trade with China hit a record $240 billion in 2023. In June, the US widened the parameters for determining whether to impose secondary sanctions by broadening the definition of Russia’s military-industrial base. Click here to read… [14]

China Begins Work on Massive Afghan Copper Mine

Chinese engineers and the Taliban government officially started work on a massive project in Afghanistan to mine the world's second-largest deposit of copper. At the July 24 event at Mes Aynak, some 40 kilometres southeast of the capital, Kabul, Taliban officials along with Chinese businessmen and diplomats carried out a ribbon-cutting ceremony as work began on the construction of a road to the mining site. A $3 billion deal signed in 2008 gave the Chinese state-owned China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC) a 30-year mining concession, but combat between NATO-led troops and Taliban insurgents at the time delayed the project from moving forward for 16 years. With violence waning since the Taliban's 2021 takeover of power amid the withdrawal of foreign troops, the cash-strapped Taliban-installed government is eager to exploit the country's vast and lucrative mineral deposits. "The time wasted in the implementation of the project should be recuperated with speedy work," Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdul Ghani Baradar said at the ribbon-cutting event. Taliban officials said it would likely be at least two years before the first copper was extracted by MCC while Chinese diplomats praised the progress as a sign of warming ties between Beijing and Kabul. Click here to read… [15]

Xi Jinping’s visit to Brazil raises ‘high expectations’ for agribusiness, aviation deals

Xi Jinping will meet his Brazilian counterpart in Rio de Janeiro in November, Brazil’s vice-president told the Post, a summit poised to yield agreements that could bring the countries closer economically. Geraldo Alckmin said the two sides were preparing a robust agenda and planned to sign several agreements during Xi’s stay in Rio, which will host the G20 summit. The visit will take place nearly a year and a half after the Chinese leader met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The trip to Beijing in April last year produced more than 20 agreements valued at an estimated US$10 billion. The wide range of deals that the leaders are expected to sign underscores how far the countries have come since the administration of Lula’s predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, which was characterised by stable trade relations but geopolitical distance. The discussions would focus on “expanding trade and investment flows, exploring new areas of technological and scientific cooperation and the infrastructure sector”, Alckmin said. Brazil also seeks to advance strategies for social and rural development and hopes to make “relevant announcements about new projects and investments and open the Chinese market to new Brazilian products, including agribusiness and civil aviation”. Click here to read… [16]

Strategic

Blinken's 6-country Asia tour to show U.S. is 'all in' on region

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will embark on a 10-day tour across six countries in Asia starting July 25, in what Washington hopes will show a strong commitment to the region. The visit to Laos, Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, and Mongolia is one of his longest foreign trips to date and is intended to signal that U.S. President Joe Biden, and his endorsed successor Vice President Kamala Harris, are "all in" on Asia, Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told a seminar at the American Enterprise Institute July 24. "We're building a lattice work ... an interlocking network of relationships, formal and informal, that advances our shared interests across the region," Kritenbrink said. "When the secretary goes, he'll demonstrate that we're all in on ASEAN as an institution, and all in on our partnerships across the region." The Biden administration has been consumed by flare-ups and conflicts in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Israel, despite vowing to "focus on every corner of the region," in its 2022 Indo-Pacific Strategy. Blinken's 10 days in the region will redirect attention to America's biggest strategic challenger, China, according to observers. Mira Rapp-Hooper, the National Security Council senior director for East Asia and Oceania, said the administration hopes that the region's minilateral groupings, such as the Quad between the U.S., Japan, India and Australia; the U.S.-Japan-South Korea group; and the U.S.-Japan-Philippines group, will interact with each other to defend the rules-based international order. Click here to read… [17]

US Sees First Russia-China Joint Bomber Flights Off Alaska

The US for the first time tracked Russian and Chinese bombers flying together off the coast of Alaska, but it’s “not a surprise to us,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said July 25. The defense chief said that US Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command followed the planes “very closely”, but they stayed in international airspace, some 200 miles (322 kilometres) off the coast of Alaska. Norad said in a statement Wednesday that the bombers, two from Russia and two from China, were “not seen as a threat.” Nonetheless, the US has expressed concern about China’s growing interest in the Arctic region and its expanding cooperation with Russia, including for its war in Ukraine. In announcing a new Arctic strategy this week, the Defense Department said the US will expand its military readiness and surveillance in the Arctic given the Chinese and Russian interest coupled with new risks brought on by accelerating climate change. Measures are needed “to ensure the Arctic does not become a strategic blind spot” as melting ice makes the region more accessible economically and militarily, according to the Defense Department’s 2024 Arctic Strategy released July 22. The Pentagon also said it needs better modelling and forecasting of the rapidly changing environment to prepare for potential combat in increasingly unpredictable conditions so far north. Click here to read… [18]

Xi Jinping calls for more support and respect for China’s military veterans

President Xi Jinping has called for more support to help veterans find work after they leave the military as the country faces a slowing economy and rising geopolitical tensions. In a directive read out at a meeting on veterans’ affairs in Beijing on July 29, Xi said “solid efforts” were needed to help ex-service personnel make the transition to civilian life so they can play a role in society and have their rights and interests protected, according to state news agency Xinhua. “[We must] let military service be a profession that is respected by the whole society, and let our veterans become among the most respected people in society,” Xi said in the directive. Vice-premier Shen Yiqin presided over the meeting, which was attended by Admiral Miao Hua, a member of the Central Military Commission – the top military command body that is also led by Xi. China only established the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs in 2018. Before then, the country’s more than 57 million veterans lacked support after they left the military. In the years before the ministry was set up, thousands of veterans had protested over their treatment and retirement benefits – especially those who fought in Vietnam in 1979 during a border conflict, China’s last major foreign military operation. As well as the ministry, a new law took effect in January 2021 to strengthen protection of the legitimate rights and benefits of veterans. Click here to read… [19]

Meloni Vows to Renew China Ties After Snubbing Xi’s Project

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni pledged to relaunch bilateral cooperation with China as she kicked off her first official visit to Beijing since snubbing the country’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative last year. Both countries signed a three-year plan in Beijing on July 28 to strengthen collaboration in areas including trade, investment, education, environmental protection and food security, while reaffirming the importance of balanced and mutually beneficial trade relations, according to an official statement. “We want to relaunch our bilateral cooperation,” Meloni said as she arrived at the Great Hall of the People. Both nations “will work to experiment with new types of collaboration, too,” she added. Meloni is seeking to stabilize relations with Beijing after Rome pulled out of President Xi Jinping’s flagship investment pact last year. Her visit comes as Europe braces for the US presidential election this November, which could disrupt Washington’s diplomatic and trade relations with the EU. The Italian leader met with Premier Li Qiang July 28 and is expected to also meet Xi during her visit. She views the Chinese president as someone who could become an important stakeholder in Russia’s war in Ukraine if Washington were to pull support, as Republican candidate Donald Trump has threatened, Bloomberg reported on July 27, citing people familiar with her thinking. Click here to read… [20]

China Tells Ukraine Time Not Yet Ripe for Peace Talks to End War

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Ukrainian counterpart the time was “not yet ripe” for peace talks to end the war with Russia, even as Beijing puts forward its own proposals for an initiative that would include Moscow at the table. Speaking during the first visit to China by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba since Russia invaded his nation in 2022, Wang said a path laid out by Beijing together with Brazil in May for resolving the war had won “extensive support” around the world. China believes the “resolution of all disputes must be achieved through political means,” Wang said, according to a government statement July 24. “Recently, both Ukraine and Russia have sent signals to varying degrees that they are willing to negotiate,” he said. “We support all efforts that are conducive to peace and are willing to continue to play a constructive role in the cease-fire and war and the resumption of peace talks.” China has cultivated a “no-limits” partnership with Russia and has sought to portray itself as a neutral actor that can help end the conflict. But Kyiv’s US and European allies have accused China of serving as an economic lifeline for the Kremlin since its invasion began by providing it with technologies and parts for weapons used in the war. Beijing skipped a peace summit in Switzerland in June where Russia wasn’t invited. Click here to read… [21]

Japan and China resume strategic dialogue after 4 years

Vice foreign ministers from Japan and China held a strategic dialogue July 22 for the first time in four and a half years, as the countries focus on shared interests amid a host of diplomatic challenges. Masataka Okano and Chinese counterpart Ma Zhaoxu discussed developments in the East and South China seas as well as Ukraine during their talk in Tokyo. Other topics included Japan's release of treated wastewater from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and the detention of Japanese nationals in China. Japanese and Chinese vice foreign ministers last met in January 2020 to prepare for Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Japan. But the trip was put on hold due to the global spread of COVID-19. The strategic dialogue was paused amid Beijing's tensions with the U.S. and rifts over economic security. The framework was revived following a meeting between Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in November. The two leaders agreed to have close communication on "all levels" including through a high-level economic dialogue and cultural exchanges at appropriate times. Direct communication between political leaders as well as senior foreign policy and defense officials could help stabilize bilateral ties. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Chinese counterpart Wang Yi are considering holding talks on the sidelines of ASEAN-hosted meetings in Laos starting July 25. Click here to read… [22]

Putin warns of reciprocal response to US missiles in Germany

Russia will consider itself free from a moratorium on the deployment of medium and shorter-range missiles if the US places missiles in Germany, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said in an address to sailors at the Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg. Earlier this month, the US and Germany announced plans to deploy long-range precision missile systems in Europe. According to a joint US-German press release dated July 10, the US “will begin episodic deployments of the long-range fires capabilities of its Multi-Domain Task Force in Germany in 2026.” Putin called this announcement “noteworthy,” as such a deployment will put important Russian state and military facilities, administrative and industrial centres, as well as defense infrastructure within the reach of the weapons. He noted that the flight time of such missiles to targets on Russian territory would be about ten minutes, and that they could also be equipped with nuclear warheads. “This situation is reminiscent of the events of the Cold War related to the deployment of American medium-range missiles in Europe,” Putin stated. He said that while Russia has long left the Cold War in the past, the US “did not reciprocate.” The president warned that if the US goes through with the missile deployment plan, Russia will respond accordingly. Click here to read… [23]

Major Myanmar regional military HQ captured, rebels say

A rebel army in Myanmar said on July 25 it had seized control of a major regional military headquarters near the border with China, in what could be the biggest recent defeat for a ruling junta that is battling to contain a widening revolt. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) said it had taken the strategic city of Lashio in northern Shan State, about 120 km (75 miles) from the Chinese border, after 23 days of fighting with government troops. "Our army has won a decisive victory and is now clearing out the remaining enemy troops. The city is now declared completely liberated," it said in a statement shared by its mouthpiece on social media, urging the public to remain calm and comply with its administration of the city. Reuters could not independently verify the group's claim and a spokesperson for Myanmar's junta did not respond to calls seeking comment. The MNDAA is among several ethnic minority rebel groups fighting to repel the military from what they consider their territories, in a loose alliance with an armed resistance movement that has waged a nationwide campaign to undermine the junta's rule. The conflict has morphed into a civil war that represents one of the biggest challenges to Myanmar's well-equipped military in its combined five decades of rule. More than 2.6 million people are displaced, according to the United Nations. Click here to read… [24]

Belarus’ foreign minister arrives in North Korea for talks expected to focus on Russia cooperation

Belarus’ foreign minister arrived in North Korea on July 23 as experts predicted that he and North Korean officials would discuss forming a trilateral anti-Western front also involving Russia. Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov flew to Pyongyang from Beijing and was greeted by North Korean officials including Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jong Gyu, according to video shot by Associated Press Television News. During his stay in North Korea, Ryzhenkov is expected to meet North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui and other senior officials. South Korean officials said Ryzhenkov is Belarus’ first foreign minister to travel to North Korea. Neither North Korea nor Belarus has disclosed which issues are at stake during Ryzhenkov’s visit. But given the countries’ deepening ties with Russia, experts say his trip will likely centre on building North Korea-Belarus-Russia cooperation to better cope with their separate disputes with the West. During a meeting in Pyongyang in June, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a pact vowing mutual military assistance if either country is attacked in what analysts called the countries’ biggest deal since the end of the Cold War. The U.S., South Korea and others have accused North Korea of sending conventional arms to Russia to support its war in Ukraine in exchange for military and economic assistance. Click here to read… [25]

Philippine, Chinese top diplomats agree to ease South China Sea tensions

Foreign ministers of the Philippines and China met on July 26 evening in Vientiane and agreed to cool simmering tensions in the South China Sea in line with their earlier provisional agreement on resupply missions in Manila's outposts in the disputed waterway. China's Wang Yi and the Philippines' Enrique Manalo talked for an hour, after participating in a dinner organized for top diplomats present in Laos for an annual meeting of top diplomats from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its partner countries. "We didn't go into that many details," Manalo told reporters on July 26 night. "But we did agree that we would honour the provisional agreement in a clear and sincere effort to defuse tensions and try and prevent any incidents, of course, from leading to further tension in our relationship." "But most importantly, we also acknowledged that the provisional agreement will not prejudice our respective positions on our claims of the South China Sea. But we both agreed again that we will try our best," he added. At the heart of these tensions is the South China Sea, which China lays claim to. The Philippines claims parts of the disputed waterway that fall within its exclusive economic zone. Unlike the Philippines, China has used aggression to assert its claims, acts that were called unlawful by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016. Click here to read… [26]

Hamas and Fatah sign unity deal in Beijing aimed at Gaza governance

Palestinian factions have signed a “national unity” agreement aimed at maintaining Palestinian control over Gaza once Israel’s war on the enclave concludes. The deal, finalised on July 23 in China after three days of intensive talks, lays the groundwork for an “interim national reconciliation government” to rule post-war Gaza, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The agreement was signed by long-term rivals Hamas and Fatah, as well as 12 other Palestinian groups. “Today we sign an agreement for national unity, and we say that the path to completing this journey is national unity,” said senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk at a news conference in Beijing. Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, one of the 14 factions to sign the accord, told Al Jazeera the agreement goes “much further” than any other reached in recent years. He said its four main elements are the establishment of an interim national unity government, the formation of unified Palestinian leadership ahead of future elections, the free election of a new Palestinian National Council, and a general declaration of unity in the face of ongoing Israeli attacks. The move towards a unity government is especially important, he said, because it “blocks Israeli efforts to create some sort of collaborative structure against Palestinian interests”. Click here to read… [27]

Paramilitary RSF agrees to US-mediated talks on Sudan war

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has said it is ready to participate after the United States invited the warring sides in Sudan to mediate ceasefire talks. RSF leader Mohammed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo said early on July 24 that the paramilitary group will participate. The US on July 23 invited the RSF and Sudanese army to meet for talks in Switzerland on August 14, as efforts to end the conflict mount. The US announced that the negotiations will be co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and include the African Union, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations as observers. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement: “The talks in Switzerland aim to reach a nationwide cessation of violence, enabling humanitarian access to all those in need, and develop a robust monitoring and verification mechanism to ensure implementation of any agreement.” Sudan’s army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has yet to respond to the invitation. Dagalo said that the invitation to negotiate was “welcome”. “We reaffirm our firm stance … which is the insistence on saving lives, stopping the fighting, and paving the way for a peaceful, negotiated political solution that restores the country to civilian rule and the path of democratic transition,” the paramilitary leader said in a post on X. Click here to read… [28]

Kenya’s Ruto adds opposition figures to cabinet as protests rumble on

Kenya’s President William Ruto has appointed four members of the main opposition party as part of a new cabinet as protests continue to rock the East African nation. Ruto announced the nominees in an address to the nation on July 24. The president had promised to appoint a new “broad-based” cabinet in response to continuing nationwide protests that have threatened his hold on power. The announcement came two weeks after Ruto scrapped the previous cabinet as the protests, prompted by planned tax hikes, swelled. A clampdown by the authorities helped raise the number of people killed to more than 50, with hundreds more wounded. The opposition figures appointed to the new cabinet are allies of political veteran Raila Odinga, whom Ruto defeated in elections in 2022. John Mbadi Ngo’ongo will lead the finance ministry and James Opiyo Wandayi was named energy minister. “I commend the leadership of diverse organisations … for their encouraging response to my outreach to consult on forming a broad-based government,” Ruto said in the address from his official residence. “Their willingness to set aside partisan positions and interests in order to join a visionary partnership for the radical transformation of Kenya is a historic gesture of their patriotism.” However, the majority of the 20 appointees announced so far were members of the disbanded cabinet, and reports suggest this has angered some. Click here to read… [29]

Sabotage Hits France’s Rail Lines as Olympics Begins

France’s rail network was the target of a major act of sabotage July 26, hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, bringing services on several high-speed rail lines to a halt in disruptions that are expected to last for days. Officials said fires were set at around 4 a.m. local time at three sites around the country’s rail network in a coordinated and precisely targeted attack. The alleged arsons disrupted services on the high-speed lines connecting to Paris from the north, southwest and east. The saboteurs cut and then burned signalling cables, requiring laborious repairs that will take days, officials said. Rail workers happened upon another team of saboteurs in the middle of the night who were attempting to damage the high-speed line that serves southeast France, officials said. The workers chased the saboteurs away, saving the country’s rail system from deeper turmoil. “What we know is that this operation was prepared, coordinated. That nerve centres were targeted—something that shows a level of knowledge of the network to know how to strike,” said Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. The sabotage marks a stunning breach of the sweeping security dragnet that France erected to shield the games from myriad threats, ranging from Islamist terrorist groups to sabotage by far-left activists or adversaries such as Russia or Iran. Click here to read… [30]

On U.S. Trip, Netanyahu Receives Clear Message on Gaza War: Wrap It Up

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered a volatile U.S. political arena this week, hoping to burnish his image with a fiery speech to Congress and shore up support from both President Biden and Donald Trump for Israel’s war against Hamas. His defense of Israel’s conduct of the war in a packed House chamber drew standing ovations, alleviating concern among many back home that the longtime leader could attract the wrong sort of attention amid divisions among Americans over Washington’s support for Israel’s deadly military operations in Gaza. But Netanyahu also received a clear message from Democratic and Republican leaders: End the fighting. “Let’s get the deal done so we can get a cease-fire to end the war,” Vice President Kamala Harris, now the Democratic Party’s expected presidential nominee, said July 25 after meeting with Netanyahu. Trump also urged the Israeli leader to end the war. “I want him to finish up and get it done quickly,” the former president said in an interview with Fox News on July 25. On July 26, the two men met for the first time since the former president left the Oval Office. Trump, seated with Netanyahu and others at a table at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, said he is the only one capable of preventing the war in Gaza from spreading throughout the Middle East. Click here to read… [31]

Health

First deaths from rare disease registered in Brazil

Brazil has recorded the world’s first deaths from the Oropouche virus after two women died of the illness, which is spread by infected flies and mosquitos, the country’s health ministry has said. Oropouche fever, named after the region in Trinidad and Tobago where it was first discovered, is a tropical viral infection transmitted from the blood of sloths to humans by infected midges and mosquitoes. Since the disease was discovered in 1954, cases have been reported in Central America and South America, particularly in the regions around the Amazon basin. The two victims from the northeastern state of Bahia were “under 30 years old, with no comorbidities, but had signs and symptoms similar to a severe case of dengue,” according to the statement released by the health ministry on July 25. The ministry also said it had recorded 7,236 cases of the Oropouche infection in 2024, adding that the disease was first isolated in Brazil back in 1960. Most cases have been reported in the states of Amazonas and Rondonia. Brazilian health authorities are currently investigating another suspected death from Oropouche fever in the southern state of Santa Catarina, as well as six possible cases of transmission of the virus from mother to child, leading to two fetal deaths. Click here to read… [32]

TB vaccine could appear in 2025 – Sputnik V creator

A vaccine protecting against tuberculosis infection (TB) could appear in Russia as early as next year, according to Aleksandr Gintsburg, the head of the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. He made the announcement at the Healthy Life Forum 2024 in Moscow on July 24, claiming that the jab has already passed the third stage of clinical trials. “If everything goes as planned, the country will have its own booster vaccine by mid-2025 that will protect people from infection,” Gintsburg told the audience, as quoted by media. He specified that the drug is intended to be a one-time injection. Clinical trials have been ongoing for a long time, with those who have already received the vaccine now being monitored by medical specialists. Gintsburg said previously that the new jab could potentially change the epidemiology of tuberculosis. The new shot will reportedly enhance the effect of the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, currently the only available tuberculosis jab, released over a century ago. The BCG vaccination only partially protects children from tuberculosis and does not protect adolescents and adults from the disease. The Gamaleya-developed vaccine could reportedly be used not only for the prevention of tuberculosis but also for its treatment. There are currently no other dual-action drugs against mycobacterium tuberculosis in the world. Click here to read… [33]