South Asia
Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund failed to agree on terms to revive a $6 billion loan programme over Pakistan’s refusal to remove fuel and energy subsidies. This is the second time the two have failed in reaching an agreement on the Extended Fund Facility. [Tribune Pakistan]
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been appointed as the country’s finance minister. He will lead discussions with the International Monetary Fund to secure a bailout and mitigate the impact of the economic crisis. [The Hindu]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Azerbaijan said on Wednesday that it will return an Armenian soldier captured last month in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region during fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces. The announcement came days after the leaders of both countries met in Brussels and agreed to further peace talks. [Armen Press]
Georgia and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members are building a “new Euro-Atlantic security architecture,” Irakli Beraia, the chair for Georgia’s Committee for Defence and Security said on Wednesday. [Agenda.ge]
East and Southeast Asia
Japan’s Cabinet Office noted that the economy is “picking up” after two years of pandemic-induced slowdown. In fact, its monthly report, released on Wednesday, made no mention of COVID-19 for the first time in over two years. However, it noted that the economy remains vulnerable to supply chain shocks caused by lockdowns in China and the Ukraine war. [The Japan Times]
North Korean state media on Thursday refrained from acknowledging the launch of three ballistic missiles the previous day. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday that Pyongyang had fired the suspected ICBM and two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea near Japan. One of the three missiles tested is suspected to be the secretive regime’s advanced Hwasong-17 ICBM. [Yonhap News Agency]
Europe
During a joint news conference in Madrid, British Defence Minister Ben Wallace and his Spanish counterpart Margarita Robles said Russia could use migrant flows from Africa “as a weapon” against Europe. They agreed that this was a rising cause of concern for NATO. [Al Jazeera]
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said the body would like “Ukraine to become an (EU) candidate country as quickly as possible.” Metsola further noted the Ukrainian war against an “autocratic dictatorship that is intimidating, and menacing and blackmailing the whole of the European Union and our whole continent.” [Euronews]
During a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov stated that not enough strategic steps had been taken to reduce Europe’s dependency on Russian energy and to fight hybrid attacks. Petkov said, “We cannot respond to the [Ukraine] war the way we would like” due to logistical issues on the eastern flank. [Sofia Globe]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Speaking at the Davos World Economic Forum on Wednesday, Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes accused France and Belgium of blocking the country’s inclusion in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). He lambasted the European nations for being “protectionist with their agriculture” and claimed that they had already “lost Russia” and now also risk losing Latin America as a trade partner if there is no “greater integration between the countries.” In January, Brazil received a formal invitation for accession to the OECD. [Globo]
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has said that “under no circumstances” will he attend the United States-hosted 9th Americas Summit next month. Although the Biden administration has not yet revealed a formal guest list, State Department official Brian Nichols had earlier indicated that Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela may be excluded from the Summit due to their non-democratic nature. [The Hill]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Israel has informed American officials that it was responsible for the assassination of a Quds Force colonel in Tehran earlier this week, a New York Times investigative report revealed. Israel believes that the colonel was heading the secretive Unit 840, which has been tasked with carrying out attacks against Israelis abroad. [The New York Times]
United States (US) Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Wednesday that the US was imposing sanctions on an international oil smuggling and money laundering network led by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Blinken said the network has been used to facilitate “hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of oil” for the IRGC’s Quds Force and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. “While the US continues to seek a mutual return to full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), we will strictly enforce sanctions on Iran’s illicit oil trade,” he asserted. [US Department of State]
North America
An anonymous source revealed that Canada’s Prime Minister’s (PM) Office and the Royal Canadian Mount Police (RCMP) took a joint decision to not let PM Justin Trudeau attend a Liberal party fundraiser in British Columbia on Tuesday amid fears that the aggressive protest outside the event could intensify and put everyone at risk if he showed up. At an event in Saskatoon on Wednesday, Trudeau criticised the “harassment, racist insults, [and] threats of violence” aimed at the mostly South Asian guests as they arrived. [CTV News]
On the second death anniversary of George Floyd on Wednesday, United States President Joe Biden signed an executive order that intends to prevent and punish police misconduct, following the failure to pass a comprehensive police reform bipartisan bill. According to the order, it is the federal agent’s duty to intervene if they see a fellow agent using excessive force. It also paves the way for the formation of a national accreditation system for police departments and a national database of federal officers with disciplinary records. [The Washington Post]
Oceania
On Thursday, New Zealand’s opposition remarked that the country has once again been blindsided after reports of China seeking policing and security deals with ten other Pacific nations surfaced. The reports coincide with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to the region. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern responded by saying that the country is constantly engaging with the Pacific nations and urged Pacific leaders to seek help from within the region if there’s a security situation. [Newshub]
In her first solo trip, Australia’s new Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong, arrived in Fiji on Thursday to counter China’s attempt to expand influence in the Pacific region. Wong said, “China has made its intentions clear. So too are the intentions of the new Australian government.” The trip comes amid Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to the Pacific to seek security deals with ten other Pacific nations. [The Age]
Sub-Saharan Africa
As the continent celebrated Africa Day on Wednesday, hundreds of demonstrators from the South African Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party marched to the French Embassy in Pretoria demanding that France must end its “colonial and neo-colonial relationship” with its former African colonies. EFF leader Julius Malema condemned France’s continued involvement in the economic, political, cultural, and military affairs of Africa, calling it “the most brutal, cruel and devilish form of colonialism.” French Ambassador Aurelien Lechevallier attempted to pacify the protesters and reaffirmed that France remains a “friend to African nations.” [Africanews]
Rwandan President Paul Kagame is among African leaders who have hailed Pfizer’s “Accord for a Healthier World” initiative announced on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The Health Accord will enhance health equity for 1.2 billion people in 45 lower-income countries, with five African nations—Rwanda, Ghana, Malawi, Senegal, and Uganda—expected to benefit immensely. Kagame described it as an “important step toward sustainable health security for countries at every income level.” Pfizer has committed to providing 23 medicines and vaccines to poorer countries on a not-for-profit basis, along with ensuring faster access to future medicines. [KT Press]