Author: Mitasar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called for joint efforts to strengthen sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations while underlining India’s commitment to a code of conduct for South China Sea that is effective and compliant with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In the second of his two addresses in Jakarta, PM Modi also referred to ongoing military conflicts and reiterated that “today’s era is not of war”. The big challenges that confront the world are terrorism, extremism and geopolitical conflicts as well as important issues related to the global south. “The need of…

(Bloomberg) — Argentina is pushing to levy a new tax on lithium producers and make them hold back some production for national battery projects. Provincial and federal officials want to tap the profits of lithium companies with an annual tax that would be put toward building infrastructure. They’re also proposing a quota of up to 20% of output to be kept for domestic battery projects. Argentine leaders have been keen to avoid yet another resource curse in a region that has been unearthing raw materials for centuries while remaining relatively poor. Taxes and meddling in exports have held back Argentina’s…

Russia is “highly likely” to create a new military formation — the 18th Combined Arms Army (18 CAA) — aiming “to free up more experienced units to fight on key axes” in Ukraine, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on Aug. 21. According to the ministry, the formation will likely be “an amalgamation and uplift” of other units currently operating in Kherson Oblast, including the 22nd Army Corps, which normally forms the Russian garrison in occupied Crimea. “18 CAA is likely to consist mostly of mobilized personnel and to focus on defensive security operations in the south of Ukraine,” reads the latest British…

Argentina, which is working to address the economic and currency crisis, is once again looking to China. In the process, it is helping give the yuan more international clout, experts note. Argentina is increasingly relying on the Chinese yuan not only to clear external debt but also for financial instruments and the trade of goods and services, according to analysts. There is a possibility for Argentine capital market participants to jointly operate different financial instruments denominated in renminbi, the Argentine government said, following an announcement allowing the trade of yuan securities and setting the conditions to clear and settle portfolios…

As the United Nations Security Council convenes in New York on Thursday, officials from the U.S. and other countries plan to push Russia to stop using food as a “weapon,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. “I think Russia is hearing a demand signal from countries around the world that they they need to stop using food as a weapon of war in Ukraine,” Blinken told George Stephanopoulos on “Good Morning America.” Russia announced last month that it would end its participation in a deal that had allowed ships carrying millions of tons of Ukrainian grain to exit through the Black Sea.…

Presidential pre-candidate Juan Grabois was 18 years old when he was first arrested by state forces for participating in a protest. It was 2002. Over 50% of the population of Argentina was living below the poverty line and the value of the Argentine peso had plummeted. Tens of thousands of Argentinians were on the streets demanding that the government take immediate action to address the economic crisis in the country. People from the most marginalized sectors of the working class, who had been forced into the informal sector, fired from their full time jobs, or were unable to find any…

BEIJING (Reuters) – U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said more work was needed this year to reach agreements with China on major climate issues, after three days of talks in Beijing to rebuild trust between the world’s two biggest carbon polluters. The two sides agreed climate change was urgent and that they should stick to the global commitment “to keep 1.5 alive,” Kerry said, referring to pledges to keep global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial temperatures. That would mark a shift in China’s tone, after Chinese officials in previous months appeared to question the latest United…

BRASILIA, July 17 (Reuters) – Economic activity in Brazil declined in May, showed a central bank index on Monday, signaling a non-linear trajectory for the country’s growth, even as analysts have been consistently revising their forecasts upward for the year. The IBC-BR economic activity index, a key gauge of gross domestic product (GDP), declined by a seasonally adjusted 2.0% compared to April, disappointing analysts who had expected zero growth according to a Reuters poll. This marked the largest monthly drop since March 2021. The observed data series recorded a 2.15% increase on a year-on-year basis, resulting in an accumulated growth…

BEIJING (Reuters): China’s Consulate General in Marseille complained to France after a bus carrying a Chinese tour group in the southern city had its windows smashed leading to minor injuries, China’s Consular Affairs Office said in a statement on Sunday. The Consulate General’s formal complaint called for France to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens and their property, the statement said. The bus was attacked by rioters on Thursday, according to state broadcaster CCTV, during violence which hit French cities in recent days since the police shooting of a teenager of North African descent. The Chinese tourists have since left…

BUENOS AIRES: Argentina will buy locally-produced lithium from US company Livent Corp to produce cells and batteries in a new plant set to start operating in September, the country’s mining ministry says. The purchase is part of an agreement signed at the beginning of the year by Catamarca province, where the lithium is produced, and state-owned energy research company Y-TEC, in which Livent would supply lithium to Unilib, the region’s first cells and batteries development plant, according to the ministry. Argentina has become the world’s fastest-growing lithium producer. It has three active mines and 38 under development. The industry had…