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July
Ukraine grain export coordination centre opens in Istanbul
Written by Nur Yasmin
Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar on Wednesday unveiled a centre in Istanbul to oversee the export of Ukrainian grains after a landmark U.N. deal last week, with the first shipment expected to depart from Black Sea ports within days.
Russia and Ukraine signed the deal, brokered by Ankara and the United Nations, on Friday to reopen grain and fertiliser exports that have been blocked by war to ease an international food crisis.
The joint coordination centre (JCC) in Istanbul will oversee departures from three Ukrainian ports in which ships must circumvent mines, and will conduct inspections of incoming ships for weapons.
All vessels pass through Turkish waters and all parties appointed representatives to the JCC to monitor implementation of the plan. A total of 20 personnel from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations will work side-by-side there.
Speaking at the National Defence University in central Istanbul's Levent district, where the JCC is located, Akar said more than 25 million tonnes of grain was waiting to be exported.
"Currently, the preparation and planning is continuing for the first ships laden with grain that will leave Ukrainian ports," Akar told reporters at the monitoring centre.
"We believe the work done thanks to the JCC will contribute to overcoming the food crisis affecting the whole world, especially by lowering prices," he said.
"The personnel working here is aware that the world's eyes are on them."
STAYING ON CAMPUS
A Turkish official close to the matter said that prior to last week's agreement the Ukrainian and Russian sides initially did not talk to each other during the negotiations and then they softened.
"The Ukrainian and Russian representatives are staying here at the joint centre. The parties have social conversations with each other in this campus. They are eating together here," he said.
The official said there were some 20 million tonnes of grain in Ukraine, with ships carrying some 10,000 to 20,000 tonnes each, or more than 1,000 shiploads. He said it would take ships leaving Ukraine some 30 hours to reach Istanbul.
The official said berthing areas where ships would be searched before travelling to Ukraine had not yet been determined.
The deal was almost immediately thrown into jeopardy last week after Russia fired cruise missiles on the port of Odesa, Ukraine's largest, on Saturday morning, just 12 hours after the signing ceremony in Istanbul.
Both Moscow and Kyiv have said they will push forward with the agreement, the first major diplomatic breakthrough in the conflict, now in its sixth month.
The U.N., Ukraine and Russia have all said they expect exports to begin in a few days. But Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said on Wednesday the deal could collapse if obstacles to Russia's agricultural exports are not promptly removed, Interfax reported.
Dozens of cargo ships have started preparing to depart from the three Black Sea ports blockaded by Russia after being stranded at sea for five months due to the ongoing clashes.
A Turkish official said all the details regarding the ships' departure had been worked out, including a safe route that will not require the clearing of sea mines.
"It will not take more than a few days. It looks like the first grains will be loaded this week and its export from Ukraine will take place," said the official, who requested anonymity.
Ukraine and Russia accounted for around a third of global wheat exports before Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of its neighbour.
Ukraine's shipments via sea have stalled since February, sparking a sharp rise in global prices for grains, cooking oils, fuel and fertiliser.
Moscow has denied responsibility for the food crisis, blaming Western sanctions for slowing exports and Ukraine for mining the approaches to its ports. (Reuters)
July
G7 aim to have price cap on Russian oil in place before Dec 5
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Group of Seven richest economies aim to have a price-capping mechanism on Russian oil exports in place by Dec. 5, when European Union sanctions banning seaborne imports of Russian crude come into force, a senior G7 official said on Wednesday.
"The goal here is to align with the timing that the EU has already put in place. We want to make sure that the price cap mechanism goes into effect at the same time," said the official, who asked not to be named.
The G7 - the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Britain - said last month they would consider setting a price cap on Russian crude to curb the oil revenue that Moscow uses to finance its invasion of Ukraine.
Since then there have been efforts to bring on board China and India, which are already buying Russian oil at a discount to the market price.
"We've already heard from a number of Asian countries that are interested in either joining the coalition or better understanding the price point at which the price will be set in order to strengthen their hand in their negotiations with the Russians over future contracts," the G7 official said.
The price set by the G7 would be made public for that reason, he said.
China and India are interested in the idea of minimising their oil import costs because they are concerned about the budget impact through often-subsidised retail prices and inflation, the official said.
The G7 want the price on Russian crude to be set by members of the buyers' cartel at a level above Russian production costs, so as to provide an incentive for the Kremlin to keep pumping, but much below the current high market prices.
This way, Russia would face a tough choice between agreeing to lower, but continued revenue and almost no revenue once the EU crude oil embargo enters into force in December.
The official said Russia will have a hard time selling its crude elsewhere because the EU sanctions envisage a ban on all financial services connected to trade in its oil, including insurance, re-insurance and financing of cargos and ships. (Reuters)
July
Malaysia says Myanmar executions make "a mockery" of ASEAN peace plan
Written by Nur Yasmin
Malaysia on Tuesday condemned Myanmar's junta for carrying out the execution of four pro-democracy activists, describing the action as a crime against humanity and appearing to make "a mockery" of a Southeast Asian-led peace plan.
Myanmar's military, which seized power in a coup last year, confirmed the country's first executions in decades, accusing the activists of aiding "terror acts" by a civilian resistance movement.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah also questioned the timing of the executions, which came a week before a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The 10-member bloc, which has also condemned the executions, had been pushing for Myanmar to adhere to a five-point peace plan it agreed to last year.
"We looked at (the executions) as if the junta is making a mockery of the five-point consensus, and I think we really have to look at this very, very seriously," Saifuddin told a news conference.
Myanmar should not be allowed to send political representatives to any international ministerial level meetings, he said, widening Malaysia's previous call for junta officials to be barred from ASEAN summits until progress was made on the peace plan.
"We hope we have seen the last of the executions and we will try to use whatever channel that we can to try and ensure that this will not happen again," Saifuddin said, adding that Malaysia would seek to present a framework for the implementation of the peace plan at the ASEAN meeting.
ASEAN should also seek to engage Myanmar's National Unity Government (NUG) and National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), a shadow administration outlawed by the country's military junta, he said.
Myanmar's junta has repeatedly called on countries not to engage with the NUG, which is made up members of the ousted administration and other military opponents that the junta has labelled as "terrorists".
In May, Saifuddin met his counterpart from the NUG on the sidelines of a summit in the United States, in the group's first open engagement with a Southeast Asian country. (Reuters)
July
U.S. accuses China of increased South China Sea 'provocations'
Written by Nur Yasmin
The United States on Tuesday accused China of increased "provocations" against rival claimants to territory in the South China Sea and other states operating there.
"There is a clear and upward trend of PRC provocations against South China Sea claimants and other states lawfully operating in the region,” Jung Pak, deputy assistant secretary for East Asia at the U.S. State Department, told a U.S. think tank event, referring to the People's Republic of China.
Pak told the Center for Strategic and International Studies that Chinese aircraft had increasingly engaged in unsafe intercepts of Australian aircraft in international airspace above the South China Sea and in three separate incidents in the last few months had challenged marine research and energy exploration activities within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. (Reuters)
July
At least 5 killed as anti-U.N. protests flare in east Congo
Written by Nur Yasmin
At least five people were killed and about 50 wounded during a second day of violent anti-United Nations protests in Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern city of Goma on Tuesday, a government spokesman said.
A Reuters reporter saw U.N. peacekeepers shoot two demonstrators dead as protesters threw rocks, vandalized and set fire to U.N. buildings.
Some stormed the houses of U.N. workers who were evacuated from the city in a convoy of vehicles escorted by the army, another reporter said.
Demonstrations began on Monday, when hundreds attacked and looted a MONUSCO warehouse in Goma demanding that the mission leave the country, and flared again on Tuesday.
They were called by a faction of the ruling party's youth wing that accuses MONUSCO of failing to protect civilians against militia violence.
"At least 5 dead, around 50 wounded (in Goma)," government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said in a tweet, without saying who was responsible.
The Reuters reporter at the scene said peacekeepers fired tear gas and live bullets at the crowd, killing two and wounding at least two others.
Protesters were initially peaceful, but turned violent as some picked tear-gas grenades off the ground and threw them back at the MONUSCO warehouse.
Army and police officers deployed to the scene did not open fire.
Local officials have called for calm, even as similar protests broke out around 200 km (124 miles) north of Goma in the city of Butembo on Tuesday.
A local activist at the scene, Afsa Paluku, told Reuters security forces intervened and fired at demonstrators, killing two and wounding several others.
The police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
MONUSCO has not yet commented on Tuesday's protests and a spokesman could not be reached.
The mission has been gradually withdrawing for years.
Resurgent clashes between local troops and the M23 rebel group in east Congo have displaced thousands. Attacks by militants linked to Islamic State have also continued despite a year-long state of emergency and joint operations against them by the Congolese and Ugandan armies.
MONUSCO - the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo - took over an earlier peacekeeping operation in 2010.
It had more than 12,000 troops and 1,600 police deployed in Congo as of November 2021. (Reuters)
July
Russia has not signaled space station withdrawal to NASA, U.S. official says
Written by Nur Yasmin
Russia's new space chief on Tuesday signaled his country's intent to withdraw from the International Space Station after 2024, but a senior NASA official told Reuters Moscow has not communicated its intent to pull out of the two-decade-old orbital partnership with the United States.
"Of course, we will fulfill all our obligations to our partners, but the decision about withdrawing from the station after 2024 has been made," Yuri Borisov, the newly appointed director general of Russia's space agency, told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
But Robyn Gatens, the director of the space station for NASA, said her Russian counterparts have not communicated any such intent, as required by the station's intergovernmental agreement, she said.
"Nothing official yet," Gatens told Reuters at an ISS conference in Washington. "We literally just saw that as well. We haven't gotten anything official."
The relationship regarding the ISS between the U.S. and Russia is one of the last links of civil cooperation between Washington and Moscow as relations between the two countries have sunk to their lowest point since the Cold War over Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Still, NASA and Roscosmos have been in talks to extend Russia's participation on the space station to 2030, and the White House earlier this year approved NASA's plans to continue running the orbital laboratory until then.
Russian space chief Borisov's remarks followed a similar pattern as his predecessor Dmitry Rogozin, who during his tenure would occasionally signal an intent to withdraw from the space station -- in contrast with official talks between NASA and Roscosmos, Russia's space agency.
Asked for clarification on Russia's space station plans, a Roscosmos spokeswoman referred Reuters to Borisov's remarks without saying whether it represented the agency's official position. (Reuters)
July
Bangladesh seeks $4.5 bln IMF loan as deficit widens, newspaper says
Written by Nur Yasmin
Bangladesh has sought a $4.5 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, the Daily Star newspaper reported on Tuesday, joining South Asian neighbours Pakistan and Sri Lanka in seeking help to cope with mounting pressure on their economies.
Known for its big garment-exporting industry, Bangladesh has sought the funds for its balance of payment and budgetary needs, as well as for efforts to deal with climate change, the Daily Star reported, citing documents it had seen.
The country's $416 billion economy has been one of the fastest-growing in the world for years, but rising energy and food prices because of the Russia-Ukraine war has inflated its import bill and the current account deficit.
The Daily Star said Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal wrote to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Sunday. A senior finance ministry official, who did not want to be named, said the matter was indeed "being discussed" but declined to give details.
Kamal and IMF's office in Bangladesh, a country of more than 165 million people, did not respond to requests for comment.
Atiur Rahman, a former central bank governor, welcomed any approach to the IMF, saying the country should seek long-term, low-interest rates from international institutes in exchange for broader economic reforms like having flexible bank interest rates.
"We have been encouraging the government to do this," said Rahman on the IMF loan request. "There's a need for a balance-of-payments support. Exports and remittances alone cannot handle that. You need an extra dose of external funding."
Bangladesh's July to May current account deficit was $17.2 billion, compared with a deficit of $2.78 billion in the year-earlier period, according to central bank data, as its trade deficit widened and remittances fell.
In the first 11 months of the fiscal year that ended on June 30, imports jumped 39% but exports grew 34%.
The central bank, the Bangladesh Bank, recently announced a policy to preserve dollars by discouraging imports of luxury goods, fruit, non-cereal foods, and canned and processed foods.
Its foreign-exchange reserves fell to $39.67 billion as of July 20 - sufficient for imports for about 5.3 months - from $45.5 billion a year earlier.
Remittances from overseas Bangladeshis fell 5% in June to $1.84 billion, the central bank said, as many migrant workers lost their jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic and many could not get home because of the travel disruption it caused.
Elsewhere in South Asia, Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis in seven decades while Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves are depleting rapidly.
The region's economies have been hit particularly hard by the Ukraine war, which has raised the cost of fuel and other essential imports. (Reuters)
July
U.S. accuses China of increased South China Sea 'provocations'
Written by Nur Yasmin
The United States on Tuesday accused China of increased "provocations" against rival claimants to territory in the South China Sea and other states operating there.
"There is a clear and upward trend of PRC provocations against South China Sea claimants and other states lawfully operating in the region,” Jung Pak, deputy assistant secretary for East Asia at the U.S. State Department, told a U.S. think tank event, referring to the People's Republic of China.
Pak told the Center for Strategic and International Studies that Chinese aircraft had increasingly engaged in unsafe intercepts of Australian aircraft in international airspace above the South China Sea and in three separate incidents in the last few months had challenged marine research and energy exploration activities within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. (Reuters)
July
Britain begins drought planning after record heatwave
Written by Nur Yasmin
Britain is enacting the early stages of drought plans which involve using water carefully to protect supplies, the government said on Tuesday, following record-breaking temperatures.
There are so far no plans for curbs on water use but regulators and water companies are working to manage water levels, including by operating water transfer schemes to allow rivers to be artificially maintained, the Environment Agency (EA) said.
Farmers in areas facing prolonged dry weather will be given more assistance and water companies will draw up potential drought plans, the agency added in a statement following a meeting of the National Drought Group, which comprises policymakers, industry and environmental protection groups.
Temperatures in Britain last week topped 40C (104 F) for the first time ever, igniting fires that destroyed properties in London and torched dry grassland as a heatwave rippled across Europe.
Nowhere in England is currently in a drought, and water companies are maintaining good reservoir storage for summer demand, the EA added.
"Water companies have detailed plans in place to manage water resources for customers and the environment, and are doing everything they can ... to minimise the need for any restrictions and ensure rivers continue to flow," said Stuart Colville, director of policy for industry body Water UK. (Reuters)
July
Taiwan president oversees drills on warship, lauds determination for defence
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen boarded a naval warship on Tuesday for only the second time in her six years in office, where she lauded the military's determination to defend the island while overseeing its largest annual naval and air exercises.
The military drills, which simulate the repulsion of an invading force, coincide with air-raid exercises across the island as it boosts combat preparedness in the face of rising military pressure from China.
Beijing's growing assertiveness towards the island it claims as its own, combined with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, have renewed debate about how to boost defence and prompted authorities to step up preparations in the event of a Chinese attack.
Beijing considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and has never renounced using force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims and vows to defend its freedom and democracy.
As part of Taiwan's annual "Han Kuang" exercises, 20 warships including frigates and destroyers fired shells to intercept and attack a would-be invading force off Taiwan's northeast coast, while fleets of F-16 fighter jets and domestically manufactured Ching-kuo fighters launched air strikes.
Tsai, on board a decommissioned U.S. Kidd class missile destroyer in waters off the port town of Suao, was seen wearing camouflage clothing and greeting soldiers.
"The excellent drill just now demonstrated the ability and determination by the soldiers of the Republic of China to defend the country," Tsai told soldiers via a cabin broadcast, using Taiwan's official name.
"Let's continue to guard our homeland together. Good job," she said.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, asked about the drills at a regular briefing in Beijing, repeated China's warnings about any military moves by Taiwan.
"Taiwan's attempt to confront China militarily is akin to a mantis trying to obstruct a chariot," he said. "In the end, it is doomed to fail."
SOURCE OF TENSION
The five-day drills come amid rising concerns about China's intentions towards Taiwan. China said on Monday it heightened warnings to the Biden administration about U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's possible visit to Taiwan. Such visits are a frequent source of tension between Beijing and Washington.
The United States does not have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan but is bound by U.S. law to provide the democratically governed island with the means to defend itself.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby told CNN in an interview there should be no unilateral change in the status quo over the island, and that the United States' one-China policy had not changed.
"None of this has to devolve into conflict. Nothing's changed with respect to 'one China' or supporting Taiwan's ability to defend itself. So there's no reason for this to be escalated, even in just rhetoric," Kirby said.
He added that as far as he was aware, Pelosi had not yet made a decision on the trip.
Although Taiwan's military is well-trained and well-equipped with mostly U.S.-made hardware, China has huge numerical superiority and is adding advanced equipment such as stealth fighters.
Speaking in a pre-recorded speech at a security forum in Taipei on Tuesday morning, Tsai said "authoritarian forces" were threatening to subvert the status quo in the Indo-Pacific region and Taiwan was standing on the geopolitical frontline to "fight against the authoritarian aggression".
Island-wide drills this year include repulsion of an invading force at a major harbour near the capital Taipei, urban combat practice by the reservist force, and an exercise to transfer jets across Taiwan to bunkers dug out of the side of mountains on the remote east coast to withstand a first wave of missile attacks.
Among the warships on display were the island's new minelayer as well as a stealth corvette, which has been dubbed by Taiwan's navy the "aircraft carrier killer" due to its complement of anti-ship missiles. (Reuters)