Author: LMD International

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Russia would end the war in Ukraine only if Kyiv agreed to drop its NATO ambitions and hand over the entirety of four provinces claimed by Moscow, demands Kyiv swiftly rejected as tantamount to surrender. Reuters: June 14, 2024 On the eve of a conference in Switzerland to which Russia has not been invited, Putin set out maximalist conditions wholly at odds with the terms demanded by Ukraine, apparently reflecting Moscow’s growing confidence that its forces have the upper hand in the war. He restated his demand for Ukraine’s demilitarisation, unchanged from the day he sent…

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The IMF Executive Board completed the 2024 Article IV Consultation and Second Review under the 48-month Extended Fund Facility with Sri Lanka, providing the country with immediate access to SDR 254 million (about US $336 million) to support its economic policies and reforms. Performance under the program has been strong. All quantitative targets for end-December 2023 were met, except the indicative target on social spending. Most structural benchmarks due by end-April 2024 were either met or implemented with delay. Nevertheless, the economy is still vulnerable and the path to debt sustainability remains knife-edged. Sustaining the reform momentum and efforts to…

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Reuters news agency is reporting that Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire resolution that was adopted by the UN Security Council yesterday, according to the group’s senior official Sami Abu Zuhri. Al Jazeera – 11 June, 2024 He added that it was up to Washington to ensure that Israel abides by it. On Monday, Hamas was quick to welcome the resolution. In a statement after the vote, Hamas said it was ready to cooperate with mediators and enter indirect negotiations over the implementation of the principles of the agreement. Read More

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How many seats have each party won? The time is coming up to 23:30 in India (18:00 GMT). Prime Minister Modi’s alliance has met the 272-seat threshold needed to form a government. Before we pause our live coverage, let’s have a closer look at how the parties in each alliance have done: BBC – June 4, 2024 According to India’s Electoral Commission, these are the total figures for the NDA (excluding seats they are leading in) as of 23:20 (17:50 GMT): BJP – 228 Telugu Desam Party (TDP) – 12 Janata Dal (United) – 12 Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)…

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