countries

Global fertility rates to decline, shifting population burden to low-income countries

Reuters0

By Bhanvi Satija (Reuters) – Fertility rates in nearly all countries will be too low to sustain population levels by the end of the century, and most of the world’s live births will be occurring in poorer countries, according to a study published on Wednesday. The trend will lead to a “baby boom” and “baby bust” divide across the world, with the boom concentrated in low-income countries that are more susceptible to economic and political instability, senior researcher Stein Emil Vollset from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington in Seattle said in a

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US pledges $47 million humanitarian aid for Sudan, neighboring countries

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Wednesday pledged about $47 million in new humanitarian assistance for the emergency response in Sudan and neighboring countries, including Chad and South Sudan, the U.S. State Department said in a statement. The announcement brings total U.S. humanitarian assistance for people in Sudan and neighboring countries to more than $968 million since fiscal year 2023, the State Department said. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh; Writing by Ismail Shakil; Editing by Eric Beech)

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Elise Stefanik Says US ‘Allowing’ Hostile Countries To ‘Brainwash’ Next Generation

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Elise Stefanik Says US ‘Allowing’ Hostile Countries To ‘Brainwash’ Next Generation Harold Hutchison on February 23, 2024 Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York said that the United States is allowing hostile foreign countries to “brainwash” college students. Stefanik told WMAL talk show host and Daily Caller Editorial Director Vince Coglianese that while her questioning of then-Harvard President Claudine Gay about anti-Semitism on campus garnered headlines, there was another matter that didn’t get attention. Gay announced she would resign her position as president of Harvard University following multiple allegations of plagiarism and fallout from her testimony. “We’re allowing our adversaries

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France says EU Commission to end trade deal talks with Mercosur countries

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PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron has told the European Commission that it was impossible to conclude trade deal negotiations with South America’s Mercosur bloc and understands the EU has put an end to the talks, his office said on Monday. Farmers have staged massive protests in France over the past few weeks, angry about rising costs and cheap imports, following similar action in other European countries, including Germany and Poland. French farmers have in particular objected to ongoing talks on a trade deal between the EU and Mercosur nations, which they say would allow cheap food imports that

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ECB lowers bar for lending to countries outside the EU

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FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank said on Monday it would lower the bar for lending to central banks from outside the European Union in times of crisis. The changes should make it easier for smaller economies outside the EU’s borders — such as Ukraine — to borrow euros from the ECB if they are under financial stress. “Building on the experience…during the pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine, the new framework provides for access conditions to be broadened in times of crisis or when there is a heightened risk of a crisis materialising,” the ECB said. Existing repurchase-agreement

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More Countries Suspend Aid To UNRWA After Allegations Employees Aided Attack On Israel

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More Countries Suspend Aid To UNRWA After Allegations Employees Aided Attack On Israel Kate Anderson on January 27, 2024 The United Kingdom and several other countries announced Saturday that they were suspending funding to the United Nations’ Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) after allegations that staff may have participated in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Canada and the United States announced Friday that in the wake of the allegations they would temporarily pause funding to the agency, with the State Department saying that it was “extremely troubled by the allegations.” The U.K., Italy and Austria also followed

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Lufthansa pulling flight capacity from other countries to meet booming India demand

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By Aditi Shah HYDERABAD, India (Reuters) – Lufthansa is pulling flight capacity from other countries to meet booming travel demand in India, which is now the German airline’s fastest-growing major market, Chief Commercial Officer Heiko Reitz said on Thursday.Lufthansa’s flight capacity to India is 14% higher than pre-COVID levels, even as it has yet to see a full recovery in some other markets, Reitz told Reuters on the sidelines of the “Wings India” event in Hyderabad. “India is growing faster than the rest of our other destinations. We are taking our capacity from other markets and putting it into India,”

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Blinken says Arab countries not keen to rebuild Gaza if it will be ‘leveled’ again

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By Humeyra Pamuk (Reuters) – Arab countries are not keen to get involved in the rebuilding of Gaza if the Palestinian enclave will be “leveled” again in a few years and stress the importance of Palestinian statehood for any regional settlement, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday. Speaking to CNBC in an interview in Davos, Switzerland, Blinken said there was a “new equation” in the Middle East in which Israel’s Arab and Muslim neighbors were prepared to integrate Israel into the region but they were equally committed to a pathway to a Palestinian state. He said

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Analysis: Global debt rush sparks hope for strained developing countries

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By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) – A $30 billion gush of debt issuance by developing countries since the start of the year is sparking hope that some of the more pressed emerging market nations might be able to regain market access in 2024. Recent falls in global interest rates combined with a relatively lean couple of years for EM borrowers has seen the usual January parade of governments embarking on their funding rounds turn into something of a frenzy. Oil-rich Saudi Arabia has already issued $12 billion of dollar-denominated bonds and the world’s largest EM borrower, Mexico, scored its biggest

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Here’s How The Biden Admin Treated Countries Who Kicked Candidates Off The Ballot

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Here’s How The Biden Admin Treated Countries Who Kicked Candidates Off The Ballot Jake Smith on December 25, 2023 The Biden administration has enacted or threatened sanctions against foreign nations who have kicked opposition candidates off the ballot, leading some lawmakers to question the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling this week to remove former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 election ballot. The Colorado Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision on Tuesday to remove Trump from the state 2024 election ballots, having decided he is disqualified to run for office under the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban,” despite the former

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Developing countries spent record $443.5 billion to service public debts in 2022- World Bank

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By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Developing countries spent nearly half a trillion dollars to service their external public and publicly guaranteed debt in 2022, draining funds from critical health, education and climate needs, and putting the poorest countries at increasing risk of “tumbling into a debt crisis,” the World Bank said on Wednesday. In its latest International Debt Report, the bank said the debt-service payments – including principal and interest – rose 5% to a record $443.5 billion from a year earlier amid the biggest surge in global interest rates in four decades. It said the payments could shoot

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German exports to CIS countries soar in first 10 months of 2023

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BERLIN (Reuters) – German exports to countries bordering Russia grew by almost a third from January to October, while exports to Russia declined by around 40%, the federal statistical office said on Wednesday. Excluding Russia, German exports to Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), made up of former Soviet republics, rose 30% to 7.3 billion euros ($7.86 billion), the data showed. At the same time, exports to Russia fell by 39.1% to 7.6 billion euros, pushing it to 32nd place among the most important recipient countries of German goods, from 22nd a year earlier. “German exports to Russia have collapsed since

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EU countries, lawmakers close to deal on AI rules, sources say

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BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU countries and lawmakers are close to clinching a provisional deal on rules governing the use of artificial intelligence and an announcement could come in the next hour, people with direct knowledge of the discussions said on Friday. The two sides together with the European Commission, which proposed the rules two years ago, had been locked in negotiations since 0800 GMT, after having failed to find consensus during a nearly 24-hour debate the previous day. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)

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EU countries order only 60,000 shells for Ukraine via new scheme – sources

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By Andrew Gray BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union countries have placed orders for only 60,000 artillery shells under an EU scheme to help get 1 million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine by next spring, according to people familiar with the figures. The scheme was a centrepiece of an EU initiative to ramp up the supply of vital 155mm artillery shells to Ukraine, allowing countries to place orders with industry through contracts negotiated by the bloc’s European Defence Agency (EDA). The broader initiative, launched in March, offered various schemes to get 1 million shells and missiles to Ukraine within a year

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World Bank’s Banga calls for record replenishment of fund for poorest countries

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By David Lawder (Reuters) – World Bank President Ajay Banga on Wednesday called on member countries to make the next replenishment of the lender’s fund for the world’s poorest countries the largest ever, warning that the International Development Association (IDA) was being pushed to its limits by increasing demands. Opening a mid-term review of the IDA 20th replenishment totaling $93 billion, Banga said World Bank shareholders, donor countries and philanthropies needed to dig deeper to help IDA deliver better development outcomes to low-income countries. “The truth is we are pushing the limits of this important concessional resource and no amount

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Global Law Enforcement Collaboration through Operation Atlas Yields 223 Violent Transnational Fugitives Arrested and 581 Fugitives Located in 70 Countries

Indira Patel0

WASHINGTON – INTERPOL Washington, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the INTERPOL General Secretariat in Lyon, France, recently marked the completion of Operation Atlas, a year-long joint operation to find and arrest violent transnational fugitives across the world. Since October 2022, U.S. and international law enforcement officials, working through Operation Atlas, arrested 223 fugitives and positively located 581 fugitives in 70 different countries, including 556 wanted in the United States. Of the fugitives targeted by the operation, 334 were the subjects of then active INTERPOL Red Notices*.  The fugitives were wanted to stand trial for offenses including, but not limited to,

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Boeing partners with U.S. govt to boost SAF development in APEC countries

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(Reuters) – Boeing Co said on Thursday it will partner with the U.S. government in a project aimed at addressing challenges faced by Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member countries in developing and scaling use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The fuel, made out of waste such as cooking oils, municipal waste and agricultural residues, is seen as key in helping the aviation industry cut its carbon emissions. However, SAF is currently only made in small volumes and costs between three to five times the regular jet fuel. Airlines’ current use of SAF represents 0.1% of global jet fuel demand.

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John Kerry Promises The US Will Pay ‘Millions’ In Climate Reparations To Poor Countries

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John Kerry Promises The US Will Pay ‘Millions’ In Climate Reparations To Poor Countries Nick Pope on November 13, 2023 Special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry said the U.S. would offer “millions” to a de facto international climate reparations fund, Bloomberg News reported Monday. Kerry, whose position in the administration did not require Senate confirmation, made the comments on Friday in Singapore at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, signaling that the U.S. does intend to participate to some degree in the so-called climate “loss and damages fund,” an international wealth transfer program designed for rich countries to pay developing

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Russia to simplify inward investment for ‘friendly’ countries -prime minister

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(Reuters) – Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Monday that Russia would create a simplified procedure for citizens and companies from “friendly” countries to invest there. Mishustin said entities from a list of 25 countries would be allowed to open bank accounts in Russia and make deposits via a simplified procedure. “Creating more convenient conditions for foreign enterprises and entrepreneurs is an important part of the government’s systemic efforts to achieve financial sovereignty as part of the implementation of the national goals set by our president,” Mishustin said in a statement. It said the procedure would apply to 25 “friendly”

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Italy Finance Minister says great concern among G7/G20 countries for Middle East crisis

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MARRAKECH (Reuters) – There is great concern among the world’s major economies about the fallout from the crisis in the Middle East after last week’s attack on Israel, Italy’s economy minister said on Friday. Speaking on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Marrakech, Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said he was worried by many things including markets, after Italy hiked its deficit targets over the 2023-2025 period. Giorgetti said he did not fear a sovereign debt downgrade of Italy but could not rule it out either. “Who can rule it out? Can I

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‘Behind Several Countries’: John Kirby Asked Point-Blank Why US Hasn’t Already Evacuated Americans From Israel

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‘Behind Several Countries’: John Kirby Asked Point-Blank Why US Hasn’t Already Evacuated Americans From Israel Harold Hutchison on October 11, 2023 White House national security spokesman John Kirby was asked point-blank why the United States hasn’t evacuated Americans from Israel when other countries have already begun flying out their citizens. Multiple airlines cancelled flights to and from Israel Monday, days after Hamas launched a series of attacks that have killed over a 1,000 people, including 22 Americans, according to The Associated Press. President Joe Biden advised Americans in Israel to book flights out of the country hours after the airlines

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Money now, shares later: more IMF countries voice support for pragmatic IMF funding boost

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By David Lawder MARRAKECH, Morocco (Reuters) – Support increased on Wednesday for the U.S.-backed call to boost the International Monetary Fund’s quota lending resources without shareholding changes, according to statements from various countries issued at the IMF’s annual meeting in Morocco. France, Britain, Ghana, Switzerland, Finland and Belgium said in statements to the IMF’s steering committee that they supported an equi-proportional increase, under which countries would contribute money in proportion to their current shareholding in the IMF. Brazil’s finance minister, Fernando Haddad, who has pushed for an increase in shareholding for itself, China and other fast-growing emerging markets, said in

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U.N. body calls for countries to spur growth by reducing global inequality

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GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations trade body called on Wednesday for global growth to be revived by reducing inequalities between countries and for top central banks to play a bigger role in stabilising the world economy. In its 2023 Trade and Development Report, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that growing inequalities among countries were contributing to weak global demand and limiting investment and growth. “There is no clear driving force to propel the world economy onto a robust and sustainable recovery track,” it said. In a statement accompanying the report, UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan

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Top adviser Lazard says countries need debt mechanism to ‘strike a deal and move on’

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By Karin Strohecker and Jorgelina do Rosario LONDON (Reuters) – Countries going through a sovereign default need a debt rework mechanism that grants timely relief, even if that means finding a solution outside the G20’s programme, an executive at Lazard’s sovereign advisory team said. As adviser to the governments of Ghana, Zambia and Sri Lanka, Lazard plays a key role in a number of critical debt restructurings at a time when emerging markets more widely face renewed pressure from growing debt burdens and rising global borrowing costs. The G20 Common Framework – a mechanism designed to provide a swift and

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Seven countries order ammunition under EU scheme to aid Ukraine

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By Andrew Gray BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Seven EU countries have ordered ammunition under a landmark European Union procurement scheme to get urgently needed artillery shells to Ukraine and replenish depleted Western stocks, according to the EU agency in charge. The orders – placed under contracts negotiated by the European Defence Agency (EDA) – are for 155mm artillery rounds, one of the most important munitions in the war of attrition between Ukraine’s troops and Russian invaders. The scheme was set up as part of a plan worth at least 2 billion euros, launched in March with the aim of getting a million

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