Economic sanctions are starting to have an effect on Iran. Reuters reports that the country has defaulted on its payments for rice to India.
Iranian buyers have defaulted on payments for about 200,000 tonnes of rice from their top supplier India, exporters and rice millers said on Tuesday, a sign of the mounting pressure on Tehran from a new wave of Western sanctions.
Now Iran can’t buy Indian rice on credit. Read More
Any takers?
Portugal’s state-owned power-grid operator REN is selling 40% of itself to the private sector. Two suitors have already stepped up to the plate with significant offers: China wants to buy 25% of the company and Oman wants to buy 15%.
Both countries have put in bids with big premiums relative to yesterday’s closing price. China’s bid includes a 40% premium, while Oman’s bid is 30% higher than the previous closing price.
This is huge. Read More
After the fall of the Mubarak regime, Egypt was all grins… It seemed as though the military was openly embracing the revolutionaries, with open dialogue and a lot of promises.
But after it was clear that the process of creating a new government wasn’t transparent enough, Tahrir Square became the center of another demonstration. Except this time, the military wasn’t on the side of the protestors.
Over the holiday week, at least 41 protestors were killed in clashes with police and the army, and 2,000 wounded. Tear gas and rubber bullets were used, though some protestors claimed there were live rounds used, and that the tear gas was poison.
All this was ahead of elections – being held today. Read More
The UN cultural organisation has voted strongly in favour of membership for the Palestinians – a move opposed by Israel and the United States.
Of 173 countries voting, 107 were in favour, 14 opposed and 52 abstained.
Under US law, Washington can now withdraw funding to Unesco. This would deprive the agency of some $70m (£43.7m) – more than 20% of its budget.
The UN Security Council will vote next month on whether to grant the Palestinians full UN membership.
How a Palestine membership to the UN will affect the region remains to be seen, but the tiny country is on the road to legitimacy…
More on this as we dig deeper.
