‘Tea-for-oil’: Colombo pays of 1 million debt to Iran

Today's news: Beijing breaks off talks with the US on nuclear arms control in Taiwan. The Knesset rejects the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry on 7 October, satisfied Netanyahu. Japanese PM apologised to victims of forced sterilisation. Indian economy has the fastest growth rate among emerging nations.

IRAN - SRI LANKA
Colombo made substantial progress in settling its oil debt with Iran under the tea-for-oil scheme. The country has disbursed USD 55 million of the USD 250.9 million planned for crude oil purchases through exports of the beverage. The process started last August and in the first four months of 2024 Sri Lanka exported 4.1 million kilograms of tea to Iran, tripling the quantity over 2023.

CHINA - TAIWAN - USA
Beijing has broken off (early-stage) nuclear arms control talks with the United States in protest against Washington's arms sales to Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory. A setback that may have serious consequences in the global efforts on atomic arsenal control, with the dragon increasingly close to Moscow in rearmament.

ISRAEL - PALESTINE
Last night the Knesset, Israel's parliament, rejected a bill to set up a commission of enquiry into the 7 October Hamas attack that triggered the war in Gaza. Out of 120 deputies 53 voted against and 51 in favour, an outcome that satisfies Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has repeatedly rejected its establishment for ‘personal gain’ according to critics.

JAPAN
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida apologised for the controversial rule on forced sterilisations, in force from 1948 to 1996. ‘The government's responsibility,’ he said, ‘as the enforcer of the eugenics law is extremely heavy, I express my sincere apologies,’ bowing before the victims. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had ordered reparations, denying the statute of limitations.

INDIA
The Indian economy is expanding at the fastest pace among the major emerging nations with a forecast of 7% by 2024. Tax revenues are also growing. These factors would be pushing Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to increase spending in the 2024/25 budget, which will be debated in Parliament on 23 July. Under consideration would be more funds to be allocated for infrastructure and welfare programmes including rural housing

MYANMAR
A rebel group in the Mandalay region continues to seize land in a key area after the collapse of the Chinese-brokered truce signed in January between insurgents and Burma's coup junta. The Mandalay People's Defence Force (POW) wrested control of large areas of Madaya, 30 km north of Mandalay. The army reportedly suffered heavy casualties in the battle, including 150 prisoners.

RUSSIA
In anticipation of a possible new autumn mobilisation, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced record figures for the spring conscription, which gathered more than 150,000 new soldiers from 1 April to 1 June. This is the highest in eight years and exceeds the annual call-ups of previous years, which remained within a maximum of 135 thousand.

CENTRAL ASIA
According to calculations released by experts via the Telegram channel Geostatistika, 100 million people will live in Central Asia by 2050. The water deficit will grow by up to 30 per cent, as three times as much water is consumed in these countries to achieve a measure of agricultural production than in the most developed countries, with the risk of a substantial loss of land.