Brussels, Belgium | Xinhua | The applications by Finland and Sweden to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will be processed quickly should the Scandinavian countries choose to do so, the military alliance’s Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Thursday. “If they decide to apply, Finland and Sweden will …
Read More »UNWTO confirms Russia’s intention to withdraw
Madrid, Spain | Xinhua | The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) confirmed on Wednesday that Russia had announced its intention to withdraw from the organization. “Russia has announced its intention to withdraw from UNWTO,” explained the UNWTO in a tweet, adding that nevertheless Russia must “follow due process – and this will …
Read More »World Bank warns of rises in food, energy prices due to Russia-Ukraine conflict
Energy prices are expected to rise more than 50 percent in 2022 before easing in 2023 and 2024 Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | The Russia-Ukraine conflict has dealt “a major shock” to commodity markets, altering global patterns of trade, production and consumption, the World Bank (WB) said in a report released …
Read More »Wheat price up 60 pct in Africa due to Russia-Ukraine conflict: AfDB chief
Abuja, Nigeria | Xinhua | The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict resulting in the disruption of wheat exports has pushed wheat prices higher by 60 percent in Africa, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Akinwunmi Adesina said in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, on Tuesday. Adesina, in a meeting with Nigerian President Muhammadu …
Read More »Russia to suspend natural gas supplies to Poland, Bulgaria
Warsaw, Poland | Xinhua | Russia is to halt natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria from Wednesday, according to energy companies and authorities. Poland’s state oil and gas company PGNiG said on Tuesday that Russia’s energy corporation Gazprom will suspend its gas supplies to Poland from Wednesday evening. “PGNiG has …
Read More »Erdogan urges Putin for leaders’ summit to solve Ukrainian crisis
Ankara, Turkey | Xinhua | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday once again urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to hold a summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During a phone talk, Erdogan told Putin that the “continuation of the positive momentum achieved in the Istanbul talks” to reach peace …
Read More »Western attempts to split Russian society unsuccessful: Putin
Moscow, Russia | Xinhua | Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that the West had failed in its attempts to divide Russian society and destroy it from within. During an expanded meeting of the Prosecutor General’s Office Board, the president noted that the West and its allies were urging Kiev to …
Read More »Sanctions not solution to end Ukraine crisis, says Hungarian expert
Budapest, Hungary | Xinhua | The European Union (EU) has already announced five rounds of sanctions against Russia, including an import ban on Russian coal. But according to Hungarian political scientist Csaba Moldicz, the sanctions will most likely not reach the desired effect of ending the current conflict in Ukraine. …
Read More »Food price shocks
Governments can learn from the food price crises of 2008-2013, when African states put in place insulating policies COMMENT | MARK REDWOOD AND STEVE WIGGINS | In the weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine, commodity markets have been rocked, as both economies have effectively been removed from global trade. Ukrainian exports …
Read More »Preventing developing-economy debt disasters
Why it is the world’s poor – 70% of whom live in Africa – who will bear the brunt of Putin’s war COMMENT | ROBAH AREZKI AND MAHMOUD MOHIELDIN | The world’s breadbasket is being wrecked by war. Ukraine and Russia together account for 30% of global wheat and …
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