Sri Lanka In Talks For $100 Mln Emergency Funding

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May 8, 2022

The China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is considering granting $100 million in emergency support to Sri Lanka, according to the country’s finance ministry.

In a statement, it said Sri Lanka has requested foreign-exchange liquidity support for state banks from the lender.

Finance Minister Ali Sabry said last week the government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the South Asian island’s economy is in crisis, with usable foreign reserves down to $50 million,.

Also Shortages of imported food, fuel and medicines have brought thousands onto the streets in over a month of mostly peaceful protests with. Rajapaksa declaring a second state emergency in five weeks on Friday.

The multilateral AIIB, founded in 2014 to promote infrastructure investing throughout Asia, draws most of its funding from China.

China is Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral lender, with an outstanding balance of $6.5 billion mostly lent over the past decade for large infrastructure projects, including highways, a port, an airport and a coal power plant.

Beijing has extended Sri Lanka a $1.3 billion syndicated loan and a $1.5 billion yuan-denominated swap to boost its reserves. The two countries are in talks for a $1.5 billion credit line and a fresh syndicated loan of up to $1 billion.

Colombo said this month that talks had started on refinancing Chinese debt after Sri Lanka suspended some of external debt repayments in April.

Nigeria’s Ibom Air Rejects Industry Plan To Stop Flights

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Zoe Maven

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May 8, 2022

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Nigerian airline Ibom Air on Saturday said it will not take part in an industry plan to stop flights from Monday over the high cost of jet fuel, saying the move would affect revenues needed to service obligations to financiers and suppliers.

The Airline Operators of Nigeria association said on Friday that members will stop local flights from Monday until further notice but Ibom Air, one of the smaller members of the nine airline association, is the first to say it will not participate in grounding flights.

The association said jet fuel has risen to 700 naira per liter in Nigeria from 190 naira over a short period and that the cost of a one-hour flight has more than doubled to 120,000 naira, a price it said was unsustainable.

Ibom Air, backed by Akwa Ibom state, said high jet fuel posed a threat but stopping operations would exacerbate the situation due to obligations and that customers have paid in advance for flights.

In November, Ibom Air signed a firm order for ten Airbus A220 planes at the Dubai Airshow.

The aviation ministry said on Saturday it was concerned about the difficulties and the spiraling air fares due to jet fuel cost but appealed to the airlines to consider the effects of a shutdown on travelers at home and abroad.

A previous threat by the association to stop flights over high costs was averted by government financial assistance.

Separately, Air Peace, Nigeria’s biggest carrier by passenger numbers, flying to Dubai and Johannesburg, has warned of flight disruptions due to jet fuel scarcity.

Zimbabwe Suspends Bank Lending To Arrest Currency Decline

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Zoe Maven

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May 8, 2022

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Zimbabwe’s government on Saturday ordered banks to stop lending with immediate effect in a move Harare said was designed to stop speculation against the Zimbabwean dollar and was part of a raft of measures to arrest its rapid devaluation on the black market.

The southern African country reintroduced a local currency in 2019 after abandoning it in 2009 when it was hit by hyperinflation.

However, the Zimbabwean dollar, which is officially quoted at 165.94 against the U.S. dollar, has continued to slide on the black market, where it is trading between 330 and 400 to the greenback.

The black market exchange rate has moved from about 200 Zimbabwe dollars at the beginning of the year.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Saturday announced measures he said were meant to arrest the currency’s depreciation, which he said threatened Zimbabwe’s economic stability.

In a statement, Mnangagwa said, “Lending by banks to both the government and the private sector is hereby suspended with immediate effect, until further notice.”

He accused unnamed speculators of borrowing Zimbabwe dollars at below-inflation interest rates and using the money to trade in forex.

Other measures include an increased tax on forex bank transfers, higher levies on forex cash withdrawals above $1,000, and the payment of taxes which used to be charged in forex in local currency.

The devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar’s black market exchange rate, which is used in most financial transactions in the economy, has been driving up inflation.

Year-on-year inflation quickened to 96.4% in April, from 60.6% in January.

Saudi King Admitted To Hospital For Medical Tests

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Zoe Maven

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May 8, 2022

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Saudi Arabia’s octogenarian monarch underwent medical tests on Sunday, state-run media reported, just weeks after he had the battery of his pacemaker changed.

The report in the official Saudi Press Agency did not provide further details about King Salman’s condition or the nature of the medical examinations but said that the king, aged 86, was admitted to King Faisal Specialist Hospital in the Saudi port city of Jiddah.

The monarch’s health is closely watched because he holds absolute power in the kingdom.

King Salman ascended to the throne in 2015 and has appointed his 36-year-old son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as his successor. However, he has also already empowered Prince Mohammed to lead day-to-day affairs.

Since his elevation to power, Prince Mohammed has upended the kingdom with dizzying social reforms, sidelined royal rivals and cracked down on perceived opponents, sparking controversy.

Earlier this year, state media reported that King Salman was hospitalized in Riyadh to have the battery of his heart pacemaker replaced. In 2020, he had surgery to remove his gallbladder after a stint in the hospital that revived speculation about the state of his health.

Musk’s $44 Billion Twitter Buyout Sued In Shareholder Lawsuit

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Zoe Maven

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May 8, 2022

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Twitter Inc. have been sued by a Florida pension fund seeking to stop Musk from completing his $44 billion takeover of the social media company before 2025.

In a proposed class action filed in Delaware Chancery Court, the Orlando Police Pension Fund said Delaware law forbade a quick merger because Musk had agreements with other big Twitter shareholders, including his financial adviser Morgan Stanley and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, to support the buyout.

The fund said those agreements made Musk, who owns 9.6% of Twitter, the effective “owner” of more than 15% of the company’s shares. It said that required delaying the merger by three years unless two-thirds of shares not “owned” by him granted approval.

Morgan Stanley owns about 8.8% of Twitter shares and Dorsey owns 2.4%.Musk hopes to complete his $54.20 per share Twitter takeover this year, in one of the world’s largest leveraged buyouts.

He also runs electric car company Tesla Inc, leads The Boring Co and SpaceX, and is the world’s richest person according to Forbes magazine.

Twitter and its board, including Dorsey and Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, were also named as defendants.

The lawsuit also seeks to declare that Twitter directors breached their fiduciary duties, and recoup legal fees and costs. It did not make clear how shareholders believed they might be harmed if the merger closed on schedule.

On Thursday, Musk said he had raised around $7 billion, including from sovereign wealth funds and friends in Silicon Valley, to help fund a takeover.

Musk had no financing lined up when he announced plans to buy Twitter last month.

EU Attempts To Save Iran Nuclear Deal With Last-Ditch Effort

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Zoe Maven

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May 8, 2022

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The European Union is making a last-ditch attempt to save the Iran nuclear deal and break a deadlock, according to the Financial Times.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told the Financial Times that he was seeking a “middle way” to end the impasse, which threatens to scupper more than a year of European diplomatic efforts.

Talks have been on hold since March, chiefly over Iran’s insistence that Washington remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Tehran’s elite security force, from the US Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list.

Borrell is considering a scenario whereby the designation on the IRGC is lifted, but kept in place on other parts of the organisation, which has several arms and a sprawling business empire, the FT reported.

The foreign policy chief also said he wanted EU negotiator Enrique Mora to visit Tehran to discuss the issue, but added that Iran “was very much reluctant” and described the diplomatic push as “the last bullet”, according to FT.

The report also cited Borrell as saying that negotiators would not give Iran an ultimatum.

Iran’s clerical rulers, emboldened by an oil price surge since Russia invaded Ukraine, are in no rush to revive the 2015 nuclear pact with world powers to ease sanctions on its energy-reliant economy.

Under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed to limit its nuclear programme in return for relief from economic sanctions.

Moldova Separatists Report Drone Strikes Near Ukraine Border

By

Zoe Maven

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May 8, 2022

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Pro-Russian separatists in Moldova say their region had been hit four times by suspected drones overnight near the Ukrainian border.

Nearly two weeks of similar reported incidents in the Transdniestria breakaway region have raised international alarm that Russia’s war in Ukraine could spread over the frontier.

Transdniestria’s interior ministry released photos of craters that it said had been gouged by the strikes overnight.

It said nobody had been hurt in the attacks, which took place in the Rybnitsa district in the north of the region. Russian troops guard a military base with a large Soviet-era ammunition dump in the district on the Ukrainian border.

Ukraine has repeatedly denied any blame for the incidents in Transdniestria, saying it believes Russia is staging false-flag attacks to provoke war. Moscow, too, has denied blame.

Russia has had a small force of peacekeepers in the separatist region for 30 years, and the reported incidents have raised international concern that they could be drawn into the conflict. Moldova’s pro-Western government says it suspects “pro-war” factions among the separatists themselves.

A senior Russian commander said last month that Russia planned to take full control of southern Ukraine, and that this would improve Russian access to Transdniestria.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” to disarm the country and protect it from fascists. Ukraine and the West say the fascist allegation is baseless and that the war is an unprovoked act of aggression.

France’s Macron Sworn In For Second Term As President

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Zoe Maven

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May 8, 2022

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Emmanuel Macron has been sworn in for his second term as France’s president at a ceremony at the Elysee Palace, followed by the firing of canons at the Invalides gardens.

In a rare development, in which presidents rarely get re-elected, Macron won 58.5% of the votes in the second round against the far-right’s Marine Le Pen, despite strong opposition to his pro-business policies and a proposal to raise the retirement age.

In a short speech, he spoke of the need to innovate at a time of unprecedented challenges for the world and for France, and said his second term would be new and not merely a continuation of the first.

Promising to act with respect and consideration, Macron said there is need to invent a new method together, far from tired traditions and routines, with which a new productive, social and ecological contract can be built.

He highlighted the threat posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and global environmental concerns.

Among the 500 guests present were former presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, former prime ministers Edouard Philippe, Manuel Valls, Alain Juppe and Jean-Pierre Raffarin, as well as religious leaders and other state figures.

Macron’s inauguration marks the end of one electoral campaign and the opening of another – for legislative elections in June.

A newly united political left – a coalition formed between hard-left La France Insoumise, the Parti Socialiste, the Greens and the Communist Party – is hoping to deprive Macron of a majority in parliament.

The right-wing Les Republicains was also due to hold a national council meeting on Saturday.

Macron will visit the European Parliament in Strasbourg on for “Europe Day” on Monday. Later in the week, for the first trip abroad since his inauguration, he heads to Berlin to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Australian Laser Fusion Developer Gets $22m Boost In Australia

By

Angel Gimalo

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May 7, 2022

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Australian laser fusion developer HB11 Energy has been awarded Au$22 million to build sovereign fusion energy capabilities.

The funding, part of an Au$50 million ‘Trailblazer’ grant awarded to the universities of Adelaide and New South Wales, is intended for the development of the next generation high power lasers needed for the nuclear fusion energy industry.

The Trailblazer programme is designed to harness local R&D expertise to develop national manufacturing capabilities in key areas such as clean energy and defence for the local and export markets.

HB11 Energy, Australia’s first laser fusion company, will assist with the proof-of-concept and development of new petawatt laser technology that is suited to generating hydrogen-boron fusion.

He adds that the nuclear fusion energy industry alone could create billions in economic value for Australia, as long as there is continued investment.

The project supports a key element of HB11 Energy’s technology roadmap and could re-establish the country as a leader in fusion technology.

Previously in the early 1930s Sir Mark Oliphant, an Australian physicist, played a key role in the experimental demonstration of nuclear fusion at Cambridge.

Earlier in the year HB11 Energy reported demonstrating non-thermal fusion of hydrogen and boron-11 adding weight to the potential viability of the technique.

Exploring Schoenfels Castle, Luxembourg

By

Angel Gimalo

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May 7, 2022

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Schoenfels Castle is a castle that has the same name as the village where it is located, which is south of the town Mersch in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Schoenfels Castle was built as a fortified keep in 1292 by a Ferri, alias Friedrich von Schoenfels, in the Valley of Seven Castles.

Later, the castle passed to the Von Ansembourg family through marriage and later still to the Von Sassenheim family.

Later in the 16th century, Henri Schloeder of Lachen became the owner and the Lord of Schoenfels and Busbach.

Since it had no major importance strategically, the French army in 1683 destroyed its defenses, and two years later the castle and the village were burned to the ground during a battle between Theodor von Neunheuser and the Lords of Brandenbourg.

In 1813, the son of Pierre-François de Gaillot de Genouillac, François-Romain de Gaillot, sold the castle to Jean-Baptiste Thorn-Suttor, who was governor of the Province of Luxembourg during the Belgian period, who has also bought Hollenfels Castle in 1818.

In 1840, he sold both castles to J. Engler, a senator from Brussels, where his son built a mansion next to the keep with a neo-gothic roof, which was tore down by the state when it became the legal owner of the castle.

Also, as Luxembourg is the owner, there is a restoration going on, with hope to open a visitors center, which presently, it doesn’t have.