Lebanon cabinet backs army plan to disarm Hezbollah, Shi’ite ministers walk out
Lebanon’s cabinet on Friday endorsed an army plan to disarm Hezbollah as Shi’ite ministers stage walk out in protest....
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved its Strategic and Capital Framework (SCF) for the next five years, demonstrating strong and continued support for Ukraine.
The EBRD’s central strategic objective for the 2026–2030 period is to provide exceptional support to Ukraine—sustaining livelihoods during wartime and contributing to the country's prosperous future within Europe as it undergoes reconstruction.
Governors agreed at the end of 2023 to increase the Bank’s paid-in capital by €4 billion to provide significant and sustained investment for Ukraine and help support the EBRD’s priorities wherever it operates.
The Bank has deployed more than €7 billion in Ukraine since the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022 and the new capital will have a multiplier effect which will further increase available investment.
"Delivering on the capital-increase commitments to Ukraine is the EBRD’s highest medium-term priority and a yardstick by which it will be judged. The EBRD will also increase its support to other countries of operation in response to both long-term transition needs and the continuing disruption and displacement resulting from the war in Ukraine," - the Bank said in its statement.
During the new SCF’s five-year period and without reducing its existing commitments, the Bank will also become fully operational in new countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Iraq.
“The Bank enters the next SCF period from a position of strength. This enables us to be even more ambitious for the impact and delivery we strive to achieve, not least in supporting Ukraine, which will continue to be our top priority,” - stated the EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso speaking about Bank's strategic approach for the next five years.
The new SCF identifies three core themes for its activities:
Accelerating the green transition.
Advancing economic governance.
Promoting human capital and equality of opportunity for all.
It also aims to maximise the Bank’s impact through two strategic enablers:
Developing and deploying digital technology.
Mobilising more private capital.
AnewZ has learned that India has once again blocked Azerbaijan’s application for full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, while Pakistan’s recent decision to consider diplomatic relations with Armenia has been coordinated with Baku as part of Azerbaijan’s peace agenda.
A powerful eruption at Japan’s Shinmoedake volcano sent an ash plume more than 3,000 metres high on Sunday morning, prompting safety warnings from authorities.
A day of mourning has been declared in Portugal to pay respect to victims who lost their lives in the Lisbon Funicular crash which happened on Wednesday evening.
The UK is gearing up for Exercise Pegasus 2025, its largest pandemic readiness test since COVID-19. Running from September to November, this full-scale simulation will challenge the country's response to a fast-moving respiratory outbreak.
A Polish Air Force pilot was killed on Thursday when an F-16 fighter jet crashed during a training flight ahead of the 2025 Radom International Air Show.
A recent Federal Reserve Bank of New York (New York Fed) study reveals that while the use of artificial intelligence (AI) among businesses has grown significantly over the past year, very few companies have carried out AI-related layoffs.
Rising concerns over the U.S. economy and ongoing tariff disputes have put global government bonds under selling pressure, experts say. Donald Trump’s push for interest-rate cuts, combined with a major spending bill, has shaken investor confidence, sending bond prices down while yields rise.
Access to Google services was restored Thursday after a region-wide outage cut off millions of users across dozens of countries, with disruptions reported in platforms including YouTube, Gmail and Maps.
The pound and the yen came under strain on Wednesday, weighed down by renewed investor concerns over global fiscal health and political uncertainty in Japan.
The price of gold surged sharply on Wednesday, reaching a new record of $3,530.08 per ounce. Analysts say the rise is driven by expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) rate cut in September and concerns over the central bank’s independence.
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