Soldiers in the West African country of Niger have announced a coup on national TV.
They said they had dissolved the constitution, suspended all institutions and closed the nation's borders.
Niger President Mohamed Bazoum has been held by troops from the presidential guard since early on Wednesday.
He was promised Washington's "unwavering support" in a call from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
UN Secretary General António Guterres also said he had spoken to the president and offered the UN's full support to the uranium-rich country.
Mr Bazoum is a key Western ally in the fight against Islamist militancy in West Africa.
Two neighbouring countries, Mali and Burkina Faso, have experienced coups triggered by jihadist uprisings in recent years.
In both countries the new military leaders have fallen out with France, the former colonial power, which also formerly ruled Niger - a vast, arid country on the edge of the Sahara desert and one of the poorest nations in the world.
Mr Bazoum's whereabouts are unclear but in a statement on Twitter on Thursday morning he said the "hard-won gains will be safeguarded" and that Nigeriens who love democracy will see to it.
Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou has declared himself the head of state and called on all democrats to "make this adventure fail".
In the TV announcement on Wednesday, Col Maj Amadou Abdramane, alongside nine other uniformed soldiers behind him, said: "We, the defence and security forces... have decided to put an end to the regime you know.
"This follows the continuing deterioration of the security situation, and poor economic and social governance."
He also said that all of the country's institutions had been suspended and that the heads of the ministries would take care of day-to-day business.
"All external partners are asked not to interfere," he went on. "Land and air borders are closed until the situation has stabilised."
He added a night curfew would take effect from 22:00 until 05:00 local time until further notice.
Col Maj Abdramane said the soldiers were acting for the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP).
This coup is yet further bad news for French and Western efforts to restore stability to the part of West Africa known as the Sahel. When neighbouring Mali chose to partner up with Russia's Wagner Group in place of the French, Paris moved its centre of operations in the region to Niger.
This coup, even if it turns out to be short-lived, has shown that even Niger cannot necessarily be relied on to be a permanent safe base. Western influence in the region is shrinking like a water pool in the dry season.
The governments in Burkina Faso, Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali have all decided they would rather work with Russia's brutal Wagner mercenaries than any Western force. Wagner's primary interests in Africa have appeared to be more about enriching themselves and extending the Kremlin's influence than following the Western goals of trying to nurture better governance.
For the two major insurgent groups in the region, those linked to so-called Islamic State and al-Qaeda, this is good news. They thrive on instability, poor governance and local resentment of the government. So a coup in Niger is likely to further hamper efforts to contain them.
After the soldiers' TV announcement Mr Blinken called for the release of President Bazoum.
He told a news conference in New Zealand that "what it clearly constitutes is an effort to seize power by force and to disrupt the constitution".
In neighbouring Mali, heavily armed Russian Wagner mercenaries are helping the military regime to fight jihadist insurgents. Niger's unrest comes on top of existing Western anxiety about Wagner operations and the Sahel region's instability.
President Vladimir Putin, keen to expand Russian influence in Africa, is hosting African leaders in St Petersburg on Thursday.
The West African economic bloc Ecowas has said it "condemns in the strongest terms the attempt to seize power by force" in Niger.
On behalf of Ecowas, Benin's President Patrice Talon has arrived in the capital Niamey on a mediation mission.
Mr Talon said "all means" would be used, if necessary to restore constitutional order in Niger, "but the ideal would be for everything to be done in peace and harmony".
Earlier on Wednesday, crowds in Niamey took to the streets in support of Mr Bazoum. A BBC reporter also saw heavily armed forces loyal to the president stationed around the national broadcaster.
The city was mostly peaceful, although soldiers behind the coup fired shots to break up the protests.
Niger is grappling with two Islamist insurgencies - one in the south-west, which swept in from Mali in 2015, and the other in the south-east, involving jihadists based in north-eastern Nigeria.
President Bazoum, who was democratically elected in 2021, is a close ally of France, and other Western nations.
Niger has experienced four coups since independence from France in 1960, as well as numerous attempted coups.
Protesters angered by an Iraqi man in Sweden who threatened to burn a copy of the Quran stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad. They overran the diplomatic compound and started a fire.
BAGHDAD (AP) — Protesters angered by an Iraqi man in Sweden who threatened to burn a copy of the Quran stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad early Thursday, overrunning the diplomatic compound and starting a fire.
Hours later, Iraq’s prime minister cut diplomatic ties with Sweden in protest over the desecration of the Islamic holy book.
Protesters occupied the diplomatic post for several hours, waving flags and signs showing the influential Iraqi Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr, and setting a small fire. The embassy staff had been evacuated a day earlier.
The attack came ahead of a protest by an Iraqi asylum-seeker who burned a copy of the Quran during a demonstration last month in Stockholm. He threatened to do the same thing again but ultimately stopped short of setting fire to the book.
After protesters left the Swedish Embassy, diplomats closed it to visitors without specifying when it would reopen.
Following a meeting with security officials, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement that Iraqi authorities would prosecute those responsible for starting the fire and referred to an investigation of “negligent security officials.”
However, the statement also said that the Iraqi government had informed Sweden on Wednesday that Iraq would cut off diplomatic relations should the Quran burning go forward.
Sudani soon announced the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador from Iraq and the withdrawal of the Iraqi charge d’affaires from Sweden.
The announcement followed an anti-Islam protest by two men on a lawn about 100 meters (300 feet) from the Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm. One of them was identified by Swedish media as Salwan Momika, an Iraqi of Christian origin who lives in Sweden as a self-identified atheist. He stepped on and kicked the Quran but did not set it aflame.
Momika also stepped on and kicked an Iraqi flag, as well as photographs of al-Sadr and of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
About 50 people, including journalists and a handful of counter-demonstrators chanting religious slogans, watched the demonstration from behind police barricades.
After the protest and Sudani’s announcement, the head of Iraq’s Media and Communications Commission said the agency had suspended the license of Swedish communications company Ericsson to operate in Iraq. The Ministry of Communications said it would sever its dealings with Swedish companies.
Before the protest in Stockholm, dozens of men climbed over the fence at the complex containing the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad. Video footage showed men trying to break down a door, setting a fire and standing, some shirtless in the summer heat, inside what appeared to be a room at the embassy, with an alarm sounding in the background.
Others later performed pre-dawn prayers outside the embassy.
As dawn broke, police and other security officials gathered at the embassy as firefighters tried to douse the flames. Some demonstrators remained at the site, apparently left alone by police.
An Associated Press photographer and two Reuters staff members were arrested while covering the protest and released several hours later without charges.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry said its staffers were safe and that attacks on embassies and diplomats violate the Vienna Convention. “Iraqi authorities have the responsibility to protect diplomatic missions and diplomatic staff,” a statement said.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said the ministry would summon Iraq’s charge d’affaires in Stockholm.
The Finnish Embassy in Baghdad is adjacent to the Swedish Embassy in an area enclosed by blast walls. Finland’s ambassador to Iraq, Matti Lassila, told Finnish public broadcaster YLE that the staffs of both embassies were evacuated Wednesday.
Iraq’s Foreign Ministry also issued a statement condemning the attack and promising to hold the perpetrators accountable, without explaining how the breach happened or identifying who carried out the assault.
Stockholm police spokesman Mats Eriksson confirmed that police had granted permission for a demonstration involving two people outside the Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm on Thursday. He could not say whether the protesters planned to burn the Quran, although Momika had announced that in videos posted on social media.
The right to hold public demonstrations is protected by the constitution in Sweden. Blasphemy laws were abandoned in the 1970s. Police generally give permission based on whether they believe a public gathering can be held without major disruptions or safety risks.
For Muslims, the burning of the Quran represents a blasphemous desecration of their religion’s holy text. Quran burnings in the past have sparked protests across the Muslim world, some turning violent. In Afghanistan, the Taliban suspended all the activities of Swedish organizations in the country in response to the recent Quran burning.
Last month, a man identified by local media and on his social media as Momika burned a Quran outside a Stockholm mosque during the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, triggering widespread condemnation in the Islamic world.
A similar protest by a far-right activist was held outside Turkey’s Embassy earlier this year, complicating Sweden’s efforts to convince Turkey to let it join NATO.
In June, protesters who support al-Sadr stormed the embassy in Baghdad over that Quran burning. Another day of protests saw thousands of demonstrators on the streets in the country.
Al-Sadr, the son of a prominent Shiite cleric assassinated in a 1999 attack believed to be organized by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, quickly organized Shiites dispossessed under Saddam against the American occupation after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Saddam loyalists and Shiite extremists alike later fought an insurgency against the American forces. Al-Sadr’s forces are believed to have later taken part in the sectarian killings between Shiites and Sunnis that plagued Iraq for several years after the bombing of one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam.
Since that time, al-Sadr’s followers have taken part in Iraqi military offensives against the Islamic State group in Tikrit and other cities and in rallies against government corruption.
Al-Sadr claimed he would bow out of politics last August, following a nearly yearlong deadlock in the formation of a new Cabinet. His party won the largest share of seats in the October 2021 parliamentary elections, but not enough to secure a majority government. His resignation prompted violent street protests by his followers.
In a televised speech to his supporters Thursday evening, al-Sadr urged other Arab and Muslim countries to “take action” against Quran burning and mocked the United States, which earlier in the day released a statement condemning the storming of the embassy.
Russia halted participation on Monday in the year-old U.N.-brokered deal which lets Ukraine export grain through the Black Sea, just hours after a blast knocked out Russia's bridge to Crimea in what Moscow called a strike by Ukrainian sea drones.
MOSCOW, July 17 (Reuters) - Russia halted participation on Monday in the year-old U.N.-brokered deal which lets Ukraine export grain through the Black Sea, just hours after a blast knocked out Russia's bridge to Crimea in what Moscow called a strike by Ukrainian sea drones.
Russia said two civilians were killed and their daughter wounded in what Moscow cast as a terrorist attack on the road bridge, a major artery for Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.
The Kremlin said there was no link between the attack and its decision to suspend the grain deal, which it says must also ease restrictions on Russian food and fertilizer exports.
"In fact, the Black Sea agreements ceased to be valid today," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call. "Unfortunately, the part of these Black Sea agreements concerning Russia has not been implemented so far, so its effect is terminated."
Images showed a section of the road bridge had come down and traffic was halted in both directions, although a parallel railway bridge was still operational. Blasts were reported before dawn on the 19-km (12-mile) bridge, which Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered built after seizing and annexing the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.
Kyiv gave no official account of the blasts. It typically does not comment on reports of attacks in Crimea or in Russia, but has long maintained that the bridge was built illegally, and its use by Russia for military supplies makes it a legitimate target. Russia reopened the bridge after it was last hit by a massive explosion and fire in October.
Russia's suspension of the Black Sea grain deal could drive up food prices across the globe, especially in the poorest countries. Ukraine and Russia are both among the world's biggest exporters of grain and other foodstuffs.
The grain deal was hailed as preventing a global food emergency when it was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last year, halting a de facto blockade of Ukrainian ports by Russia, which agreed to let ships pass after inspections in Turkey.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, the deal's powerful sponsor, said he still believed Putin wanted it to continue. The Russian and Turkish foreign ministers would talk later on Monday, he told reporters.
"I hope that with this discussion, we can make some progress and continue on our way without a pause," Erdogan said.
Global commodity food prices rose on Monday, though the increase was limited, suggesting traders did not yet anticipate a severe supply crisis. The Chicago Board of Trade's most active wheat Wv1 contract was up 3.0% at $6.81-3/4 a bushel at 1056 GMT after earlier rising over 4%.
Putin had threatened last week to suspend participation in the grain deal, while also saying Russia could return to it if its demands were met for easier rules for its own agriculture and fertilizer exports.
Alongside the Black Sea grain deal, a three-year deal was struck last year under which U.N. officials agreed to help Russia get its food and fertiliser to foreign markets.
Moscow says those terms have not been fully implemented. Western countries say Moscow is trying to use its leverage over the grain deal to weaken financial sanctions, which do not apply to Russia's agricultural exports.
"We can suspend our participation in the deal, and if everyone once again says that all the promises made to us will be fulfilled, then let them fulfil this promise. We will immediately rejoin this deal," Putin said last week.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described Russia's suspension of the agreement as a "cynical move" and said the EU would continue to try to secure food for poor countries.
Russia has agreed three times in the past year to extend the Black Sea deal, despite repeatedly threatening to walk out. It briefly suspended participation at the end of October last year after an attack on its fleet by seaborne Ukrainian drones, leading to a few days when Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations kept exports going under the deal without Moscow.
Denys Marchuk, deputy head of the Ukrainian Agrarian Council, the main agribusiness organisation in Ukraine, sounded bullish about the prospect of again continuing seaborne exports without Russia's participation.
"As an option, why don’t we assess the possibility of the continuation of the grain deal without Russia? We had experience of this already in November 2022," he told Reuters. "If there will be safety guarantees from our partners, then why not conduct the grain initiative without Russia’s participation?"
The blast on Russia's bridge to Crimea follows months of Ukrainian strikes on Russian supply lines as Kyiv pursues a counteroffensive to drive Russian forces out of its territory.
Unverified imagery showed a section of road on the bridge had split and was listing to one side, with metal barriers buckled. Dash cam footage showed drivers braking sharply shortly after the incident.
The Ukrainian military initially suggested the attack could be some kind of provocation by Russia itself; Ukrainian media later cited unidentified sources as saying Ukraine's Security Service was behind it.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive, which began last month, has so far been slow going, capturing a string of small hamlets in the south and some territory around Bakhmut, the small eastern city Russia captured in May after the war's deadliest combat. Kyiv said on Monday its forces had captured another 18 sq km of territory over the past week, bringing the total captured to more than 210 sq km.
The business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, has signed off UK membership to a large Indo-Pacific trade bloc that the government argues will bring British businesses a step closer to selling to a market of 500 million people with fewer barriers.
Badenoch signed the accession protocol for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in New Zealand on Sunday.
Critics say the impact will be limited, with the government’s technical estimates suggesting it will add just £1.8bn annually to the economy after 10 years, the equivalent of 0.08% of Britain’s gross domestic product.
Badenoch said the deal would bring “significant” benefits. Asked by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg whether the public would feel any difference if it would add only 0.08% of UK GDP in a decade, she replied: “They will if they use it.”
The trade minister, Nigel Huddleston, told Times Radio that UK membership of the CPTPP could make a “whole lot of difference” to individual companies. “I wouldn’t be too snippy about this, we are talking about billions of pounds of additional economic generation from this deal,” he added.
The shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, said last month the Conservatives were being “dishonest” by claiming membership of the bloc would make up for lost trade with the rest of Europe. In 2022, Britain exported £340bn of goods and services to the EU, 42% of total UK exports.
The deal represents a continuation of the post-Brexit policy tilt towards the Indo-Pacific, which is expected to be home to about half the world’s middle-class consumers by 2035. The UK already has free trade deals with nine of the 11 member states of the CPTPP, many of which were rolled over from when it was a EU member.
With Labour ahead in the polls, it is unclear whether the next government will focus as much on the Indo-Pacific as it does on mending the battered ties with the EU.
Britain is the first new member to join the CPTPP since its formation in 2018. It is also the first European country to gain entry to the bloc, which comprises Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
The deal represents Britain’s biggest trade agreement since leaving the EU, cutting tariffs for UK exporters to a group of countries that will have a combined GDP of £12tn, about 15% of global GDP, according to officials.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has estimated that Brexit will reduce Britain’s GDP by 4% over 15 years from 2016, wiping about £100bn from the economy.
Goods including Australian Ugg boots, kiwifruit from New Zealand, blueberries from Chile and maple syrup from Canada will all now become cheaper for UK consumers, according to the Institute of Export and International Trade.
Analysts raised doubts about the significance of the deal. “The impact appears mainly cosmetic, for the UK to show it made a trade deal after Brexit,” Chris Devonshire-Ellis, the chair of the investment advisory firm Dezan Shira & Associates, told Nikkei Asia. “No one in Asia is taking the pact very seriously.”
After two years of negotiations, Britain and the other 11 member states will begin work to ratify the deal. In the UK, this will involve parliamentary scrutiny and legislation to bring it into force, a process estimated to take place in the second half of 2024.
Attention may shift to other potential new members, with applications by China and Taiwan likely to cause tensions. The UK has said that other new entrants will need to meet high standards.
Badenoch acknowledged that the probability of the UK securing a free trade agreement with the US was “very low”, despite it being a priority for many pro-Brexit Conservatives.
She blamed the lack of progress towards such a deal on the change of administration from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 election.
“The US is not carrying out any free trade agreements with any countries, so I would say very low,” she told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme. “It all depends on the administration that’s there; different presidents have different priorities.
“Lots of countries have been looking to have a free trade agreement with the US, including us, but for now they’ve said that’s not something they want to do and we need to respect that. Instead, we’re having other types of trading interactions and trading deals with them.”
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Central America is experiencing a wave of unrest that is remarkable even for a region whose history is riddled with turbulence. The most recent example is political upheaval in Guatemala as the country heads for a runoff presidential election in August.
A look at various events roiling Central American countries:
Guatemala
Guatemala is locked in the most troubled presidential election in the country’s recent history. The first round of elections in June ended with a surprise twist when little known progressive candidate Bernardo Arévalo of the Seed Movement party pulled ahead as a front-runner.
Now headed to an August runoff election with conservative candidate and top vote-getter Sandra Torres, Arévalo has thus far managed to survive judicial attacks and attempts by Guatemala’s political establishment to disqualify his party. It comes after other moves by the country’s government to manage the election, including banning several candidates before the first-round vote.
While not entirely unprecedented in a country known for high levels of corruption, American officials call the latest escalation a threat to the country’s democracy.
El Salvador
El Salvador has been radically transformed in the past few years with the entrance of populist millennial President Nayib Bukele. One year ago, Bukele entered an all-out war with the Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatruchas, or MS-13, gangs. He suspended constitutional rights and threw 1 in every 100 people in the country into prisons that have fueled allegations of mass human rights abuses.
The sharp dip in violence that followed Bukele’s actions, combined with an elaborate propaganda machine, has ignited a pro-Bukele populist fervor across the region, with other governments trying to mimic the Bitcoin-pushing leader.
At the same time, Bukele has announced he will run for reelection in February next year despite the constitution prohibiting it. He has also made moves that observers warn are gradually dismantling the nation’s democracy.
Nicaragua
President Daniel Ortega is in an all-out crackdown on dissent. For years, regional watchdogs and the U.S. government raised alarms that democracy was eroding under the leader of the Sandinista National Liberation Front. That came to a head in 2018 when Ortega’s government began a violent crackdown on protests.
Most recently, Ortega forced hundreds of opposition figures into exile, stripping them of their citizenship, seizing their properties and declaring them “traitors of the homeland.” Nicaragua has thrown out aid groups such as the Red Cross and a yearslong crackdown on the Catholic Church has forced the Vatican to close its embassy. The tightening chokehold on the country has prompted many Nicaraguans to flee their country and seek asylum in neighboring Costa Rica or the United States.
Honduras
President Xiomara Castro took office last year as the first female president of Honduras, winning on a message of tackling corruption, inequality and poverty. The wife of former President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted in a military coup, she won a landslide victory.
But her popularity has dipped as many of her promises for change have gone unfulfilled. At the same time, the government has sought to mimic neighboring El Salvador’s crackdown on gangs, responding fiercely to a grisly massacre in a women’s prison in June.
Costa Rica
Once known as the land of “pura vida” and mild politics compared to the surrounding region, Costa Rica has seen rising bloodshed that threatens to tarnish the country’s reputation as a secure haven. Homicides have soared as the nation has become a base for drug traffickers. President Rodrigo Chavez, who took office last year, has promised more police in the street and tougher laws to take on the uptick in crime.
At the same time, a migratory flight from Nicaragua has overwhelmed the country, which is known as one of the world’s great refuges for people fleeing persecution. The government has since tightened its asylum laws.
Panama is headed into presidential elections in May, with simmering frustration at economic woes, corruption and insecurity acting as a potential harbinger for change. Any shift could have global significance due to Panama’s status as a financial hub.
The nation has also become the epicenter of a steady flow of migration through the perilous jungles of the Darien Gap running along the Colombia-Panama border.
Belize
Belize is often seen as a place of relative calm in a region that is anything but. A former British colony named British Honduras, Belize’s government system is still tightly tethered to the country. But Prime Minister Johnny Briceño has sought to distance his nation from the monarchy. The nation is also one of the few in the Americas that maintains formal ties with Taiwan amid a broad effort by China to pull support away from the island country by funneling money into Central America.
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in which they discussed the Black Sea grain deal, due to expire on Monday, and a summit in South Africa next month, the Kremlin said on Saturday.
July 15 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in which they discussed the Black Sea grain deal, due to expire on Monday, and a summit in South Africa next month, the Kremlin said on Saturday.
Ramaphosa finds himself in an awkward position as host of the BRICS summit because of an arrest warrant issued against Putin in March by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which accused him of the war crime of deporting Ukrainian children to Russia.
The warrant means member states of the ICC - of which South Africa is one - are obliged to arrest him if he sets foot on their territory. Russia said at the time that the warrant was "outrageous" and legally void because Russia is not an ICC member.
The Kremlin has yet to say publicly if Putin intends to go to the summit. In Saturday's statement it said Ramaphosa had briefed Putin about preparations for the event, but did not give details of their exchange.
Ramaphosa's office, in its readout of the call, did not mention the meeting of the BRICS group, which also includes Brazil, India and China.
It said the two men discussed an African peace initiative for Ukraine and "the need for a permanent and sustainable solution to the movement of grain from Russia and Ukraine to the international markets".
The African plan was presented separately to Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last month by a group of leaders including Ramaphosa, but has yet to gain any traction.
On the grain deal, which expires on Monday unless Russia agrees to extend it, Putin reiterated to Ramaphosa that commitments to remove obstacles to Russian food and fertiliser exports had not yet been fulfilled, the Kremlin said.
Russia has repeatedly said that for this reason it sees no grounds to renew the deal, originally struck a year ago to enable Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports despite the war with Russia.
Putin told reporters on Thursday that rather than renew the arrangement next week, Moscow might pull out and wait for its demands to be met before rejoining.
Russia has threatened to quit the deal before, however, only to renew it at the last minute.
Additional reporting by Kopano Gumbi; editing by Clelia Oziel
A new U.N. report says some 3.3 billion people – almost half of humanity – now live in countries that spend more money paying interest on their debts than on education or health.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Some 3.3 billion people – almost half of humanity – now live in countries that spend more money paying interest on their debts than on education or health, according to a new U.N. report released Wednesday.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a press conference launching the report that because this “crushing debt crisis” is concentrated mostly in poor developing countries, it is “not judged to pose a systemic risk to the global financial system.”
“This is a mirage,” the U.N. chief warned. “3.3 billion people is more than a systemic risk, it is a systemic failure.”
Guterres said financial markets may seem not to be suffering yet — but billions of people are and the levels of public debt “are staggering and surging.”
“In 2022, global public debt reached a record $92 trillion and developing countries shoulder a disproportionate amount,” he said.
According to the report, the number of countries facing high debt levels has increased sharply from 22 nations in 2011 to 59 in 2022.
The secretary-general said a growing share of debt is held by private creditors who charge sky-high interest rates to developing countries. As an example, he cited African countries that on average pay four times more for borrowing than the United States and eight times more than the wealthiest European countries.
The debt crisis is leaving governments with no money to invest in lagging U.N. development goals for 2030 that include ending extreme poverty; ensuring that every child has a good-quality primary and secondary school education, and to invest in transitioning to renewable energy, he said.
The report says public debt has reached “colossal levels” largely due to two factors: First, countries’ financial needs soared as they tried to fend off the impact of cascading crises including the COVID-19 pandemic, the rising cost of living and climate change, and second, the global financial architecture “makes developing countries’ access to financing inadequate and expensive.”
The International Monetary Fund says 36 countries are on “so-called `debt row’ – either in, or at high risk of debt distress,” Guterres told reporters. “Another 16 are paying unsustainable interest rates to private creditors (and) a total of 52 countries – almost 40% of the developing world – are in serious debt trouble.”
U.N. trade chief Rebeca Grynspan stressed “the sheer magnitude and speed at which public debt has grown,” pointing to a more than fivefold surge since 2000, “significantly outpacing global GDP growth that has only tripled in the same period.”
Regionally, between 2010 and 2022, the amount of government debt increased by almost four times in Asia and the Pacific, three times in Africa, 2.5 times in Europe and Central Asia, and 1.6 times in Latin America and the Caribbean, Armida Alisjahbana, executive secretary of the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, told reporters.
The report by the U.N. Global Crisis Response Group sets out a roadmap to global financial stability including major reforms to the global financial architecture, especially the IMF and World Bank. It also includes a new “mechanism” to tackle debts that includes suspending payments, longer lending terms, and lower interest rates including for vulnerable middle-income countries.
Grynspan told reporters by video from Geneva that a new mechanism is critically needed to restructure debt much faster. Currently, it can take up to 2 ½ years, she said.
Guterres said an upcoming summit of the world’s 20 wealthiest nations in India on Sept. 9-10 is an opportunity to take action on debt relief and other needed financial reforms.
President Joe Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of having a "craven lust for land and power" at the end of a NATO summit on Wednesday where Ukraine won new security assurances from the U.S. and its allies for its defence against Moscow.
VILNIUS, July 12 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of having a "craven lust for land and power" at the end of a NATO summit on Wednesday where Ukraine won new security assurances from the U.S. and its allies for its defence against Moscow.
Members of the world's most powerful military bloc offered the prospect of long-term protection a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy decried as "absurd" a refusal to offer an invitation or timetable for Ukraine's entry into NATO.
Ukraine has been pushing for rapid membership while fighting a Russian invasion unleashed in February 2022 that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.
Instead, a declaration by the G7 group of the world's most industrialised countries launched a framework for bilateral negotiations to provide military and financial support, intelligence sharing and a promise of immediate steps if Russia should attack again.
"Our support will last long into the future. It's a powerful statement of our commitment to Ukraine," Biden said alongside Zelenskiy and leaders of the G7, which is made up of the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
Later in a speech at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, Biden said Putin had badly underestimated the resolve of the U.S.-led military alliance.
"NATO is stronger, more energized and yes, more united than ever in its history. Indeed, more vital to our shared future. It didn't happen by accident. It wasn't inevitable," Biden said.
"When Putin, and his craven lust for land and power, unleashed his brutal war on Ukraine, he was betting NATO would break apart. He thought NATO would break. He thought our unity would shatter at the first testing. He thought democratic leaders would be weak. But he thought wrong."
Swallowing his disappointment over the lack of a membership timetable, Zelenskiy called the outcome a "meaningful success" following a flurry of announcements of military aid for Kyiv.
"Today there are security guarantees for Ukraine on the way to NATO," he said. "The Ukraine delegation is bringing home a significant security victory for Ukraine."
Nevertheless, Zelenskiy pressed for more and said he would raise Ukraine's need for long-range weapons at a meeting with Biden at the summit.
"We can state that the results of the summit are good, but if there was an invitation, they would be ideal," he added.
At the bilateral meeting, Biden promised Zelenskiy the U.S. was doing everything it could to meet Ukraine's needs and acknowledged Zelenskiy's frustration about the scale and speed of support.
"Your resilience and your resolve has been a model for the whole world to see," Biden said. "I look forward to the day when we're having the meeting celebrating your official, official membership in NATO."
"The bad news for you is, we're not going anywhere. You're stuck with us," Biden joked, prompting laughter from Zelenskiy.
Asked by a reporter how soon after the war he would like Ukraine to join NATO, Biden responded "an hour and 20 minutes".
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden would offer Zelenskiy long-range missiles when they met.
Zelenskiy told Biden he wanted to thank "all Americans" for the billions of dollars in aid his country had received.
"You have to know that you spend this money" for more than just fighting, he said. "You spend this money for our lives."
British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he had told Ukraine that its international allies were "not Amazon" and Kyiv needed to show gratitude for weapons donations to persuade Western politicians to give more.
Zelenskiy said: "We were always grateful to the UK, prime ministers and the minister of defence because the people are always supporting us."
Britain, France, Germany and the U.S. have been negotiating with Kyiv for weeks over a broad international framework of support, encompassing modern advanced military equipment such as fighter jets, training, intelligence-sharing and cyberdefence.
In return Ukraine would pledge better governance, including through judicial and economic reforms and enhanced transparency.
The first sitting of a new NATO-Ukraine Council was also held on Wednesday, a format designed to tighten cooperation between Kyiv and the 31-nation alliance.
NATO is built around mutual security guarantees whereby an attack on one is an attack on all, and it has carefully avoided extending any firm military commitments to Ukraine, worried it would risk taking it closer to a full-on war with Russia.
Ukraine has been wary of any less-binding security "assurances", given Russia's invasion already trampled the so-called Budapest Memorandum under which international powers committed to keeping the country safe in exchange for Kyiv giving up its Soviet-era nuclear arms.
Speaking earlier alongside Zelenskiy, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine was closer to the alliance than ever before, and brushed aside new warnings from Russia about the consequences of supporting Ukraine.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the security arrangements for Ukraine were not designed to be a substitute for full NATO membership and said the commitments at the summit marked a high point for the West's support for Kyiv.
Russia, which says NATO's eastward expansion is an existential threat to its own security, swiftly lashed out.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was "potentially very dangerous" for the West to give Ukraine security guarantees.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy secretary of Russia's powerful Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, said increasing military assistance to Ukraine by NATO was bringing closer a World War Three.
With tensions surrounding Guatemala’s June 25 election heightening, President Alejandro Giammattei has taken the unusual step of publishing an open letter saying he has no intention of staying in power beyond his term.
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — With tensions surrounding Guatemala’s June 25 presidential election heightening, President Alejandro Giammattei took the unusual step of publishing an open letter Monday saying he has no intention of staying in power beyond his term.
Two weeks have passed since electoral authorities identified two presidential candidates to face off in an Aug. 20 runoff. But the courts have intervened at the request of some political parties and blocked certification of the results.
The delay fed rumors that Giammattei, an unpopular leader accused by the U.S. government and others of backsliding on democracy, might be looking to hold onto power because one of the candidates in the runoff has vowed to tackle corruption.
Without providing specifics, Giammettei denounced a “campaign of disinformation and absolutely false and biased rumors.” He said he was telling Guatemalans that he would respect the constitutional end of his term on Jan. 14, 2024.
He said the second round of voting should go ahead as scheduled and he would work on the transfer of power with whomever is elected.
Last week, under order from the Constitutional Court — Guatemala’s highest — panels reviewed precinct vote tallies that had been challenged by some political parties.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal then said the review did not change the election’s results, which showed conservative Sandra Torres and progressive Bernardo Arévalo as the top two vote-getters among the 22 presidential candidates.
But late Friday, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Justice — the court designated to handle the election challenges — issued an order that the process to certify the results could not go forward until electoral authorities reported to her on their methods and any inconsistencies found.
On Monday, the Supreme Court of Justice endorsed last week’s review of challenged precinct vote tallies and rejected additional attempts by some political parties to further delay the certification of the results.
What the court did not say was whether its decision clears the way for the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to to certify the results.
Supreme Electoral Tribunal spokesman David de León said the country’s electoral authority would continue the process to certify the results and proceed with the Aug. 20 runoff.
“Despite the emphatic language assuring he’ll step down from the post and the call to respect the second round date, (Giammattei’s) statement does not clarify what the president would do if the Supreme Court ... decided for whatever reason to change” the results, said Tiziano Breda, a Latin America expert and researcher at Italy’s International Affairs Institute.
Giammattei tries to present himself as the guarantor of the separation of powers, but he and his party are the “architects” of the judicial intervention that is delaying the certification of the results, Breda said.
Later Monday, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal urged calmed. In a broadcast news conference, tribunal President Irma Palencia said, “We are making our greatest effort to continue guaranteeing the protection of the vote, because this election is won or lost at the ballot box and that is where you are invited to participate again Aug. 20.”
Foxconn said it intends to apply for incentives under India's semiconductor production plan, a day after the Taiwanese firm split with Vedanta on a $19.5 billion chipmaking joint venture.
TAIPEI/MUMBAI, July 11 (Reuters) - Foxconn said it intends to apply for incentives under India's semiconductor production plan, a day after the Taiwanese firm split with Vedanta on a $19.5 billion chipmaking joint venture.
Foxconn (2317.TW) withdrew from the JV with the Indian metals-to-oil conglomerate on Monday, in a setback to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's chipmaking plans for India.
The world's largest contract electronics maker said on Tuesday it was working towards applying under India's Modified Programme for Semiconductors and Display Fab Ecosystem, a $10 billion plan offering incentives of up to 50% of capital costs for semiconductor and display manufacturing projects.
"We have been actively reviewing the landscape for optimal partners," it said in a statement. "Foxconn is committed to India and sees the country successfully establishing a robust semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem."
Although Foxconn will start afresh, the Vedanta (VDAN.NS) breakup is a setback for Modi who has made chipmaking a top priority in pursuit of a "new era" in electronics manufacturing and hailed the JV as an "important step" last year.
Foxconn is in talks with several local and international partners to make semiconductors in India using mature chip manufacturing technology for products including EVs, two people with direct knowledge of the discussions said, requesting anonymity as the plans are confidential.
"The company will continue to be there, just that it will find other partners," one of the people said.
India expects its semiconductor market to be worth $63 billion by 2026, but Modi's plan has so far floundered.
Although three companies applied for incentives last year -- Vedanta-Foxconn JV, Singapore-based IGSS Ventures and global consortium ISMC, which counts Tower Semiconductor (TSEM.TA) as a tech partner -- no plan has been sealed.
The $3 billion ISMC project is stalled because Tower is being acquired by Intel, while another $3 billion plan by IGSS was also halted because it wanted to re-submit its application, Reuters has reported.
VENTURE TROUBLES
Explaining the Vedanta split, Foxconn said "there was recognition from both sides that the project was not moving fast enough" and there were other "challenging gaps we were not able to smoothly overcome", without giving more details.
"This is not a negative," Foxconn added.
Reuters had earlier reported that deadlocked talks on finalising European chipmaker STMicroelectronics (STMPA.PA) as a tech partner of the Vedanta-Foxconn JV, and delayed incentive approvals were among reasons for the pullout.
The two sources said on Tuesday that Indian authorities and Foxconn were both concerned about Vedanta's finances, which had also contributed to the Taiwanese firm's decision to end the JV.
Vedanta's India unit said in its most recent annual report that its net debt stood at 452.60 billion rupees ($5.5 billion) as of March 31, 2023, more than doubling over a year due to dividend payments and capital expenditure outflows.
In a statement to Reuters, Vedanta said the India unit, Vedanta Ltd, is in "a comfortable financial position" and there was "no basis" for speculation. India's IT ministry did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
Moody's this year downgraded Vedanta's London-based parent, Vedanta Resources, and warned that ongoing debt related issues expose Vedanta "to material refinancing risks and exacerbate likelihood of a payment default or a distressed exchange".
There have been no defaults on the group's debt, Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal has said.
Like Foxconn, the Indian government has said the breakup of the JV had "no impact" on India's semiconductor plans, adding that both companies were "valued investors" in the country.
Foxconn's Taipei listed shares closed up 0.5%, underperforming the broader market (.TWII). Vedanta's shares fell as much as 2.6% in Mumbai, before paring some losses.
Niger soldiers declare coup on national TV (www.bbc.com)
The president has been detained and troops now say they are closing the country's borders.
A diplomatic fight breaks out after a man desecrated the Quran (apnews.com)
Protesters angered by an Iraqi man in Sweden who threatened to burn a copy of the Quran stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad. They overran the diplomatic compound and started a fire.
Moscow halts grain deal after bridge to Crimea struck (www.reuters.com)
Russia halted participation on Monday in the year-old U.N.-brokered deal which lets Ukraine export grain through the Black Sea, just hours after a blast knocked out Russia's bridge to Crimea in what Moscow called a strike by Ukrainian sea drones.
Kemi Badenoch signs treaty for UK to join Indo-Pacific trade bloc (www.theguardian.com)
Critics note government estimates that suggest membership of CPTPP will add just £1.8bn a year to UK economy after 10 years
A wave of political turbulence is rolling through Guatemala and other Central American countries (apnews.com)
Central America is experiencing a wave of unrest that is remarkable even for a region whose history is riddled with turbulence.
Putin discusses grain deal, awkward BRICs summit with Ramaphosa (www.reuters.com)
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in which they discussed the Black Sea grain deal, due to expire on Monday, and a summit in South Africa next month, the Kremlin said on Saturday.
3.3 billion people live in countries that spend more on debt interest than education, UN says (apnews.com)
A new U.N. report says some 3.3 billion people – almost half of humanity – now live in countries that spend more money paying interest on their debts than on education or health.
NATO allies offer Ukraine security assurances as Biden hits out at 'craven' Putin (www.reuters.com)
President Joe Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of having a "craven lust for land and power" at the end of a NATO summit on Wednesday where Ukraine won new security assurances from the U.S. and its allies for its defence against Moscow.
Guatemala president says he won't stay in power as courts continue to hold up election results (apnews.com)
With tensions surrounding Guatemala’s June 25 election heightening, President Alejandro Giammattei has taken the unusual step of publishing an open letter saying he has no intention of staying in power beyond his term.
Foxconn targets India's chip scheme after pulling plug on $19.5 bln JV (www.reuters.com)
Foxconn said it intends to apply for incentives under India's semiconductor production plan, a day after the Taiwanese firm split with Vedanta on a $19.5 billion chipmaking joint venture.