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☆ Ukraine’s corn and wheat exports are set to plummet. Here’s what that means for the world's food supply
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Lucy Handley | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Both Ukraine and Russia were among the world's top producers of commodities such as wheat and barley before the war broke out in February 2022. But the conflict saw the price of U.S. wheat and corn futures hit decade highs (with one benchmark wheat contract hitting an all-time high) and sparked volatility in global wheat prices throughout the year. 2023/24 Ukraine grains exports (corn + wheat) might be 27-30mmt, down 15-18mmt from 2021/22," he added. Global food tradeThe war in Ukraine has contributed to rising food prices, with inflation above 5% in more than 80% of low-income countries, according to World Bank figures. Climate change causing extreme weather is already damaging the food system, according to Alexander, a senior lecturer at Edinburgh University's Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Systems.

☆ Ukraine live war updates: 'U.S. can cheat at any moment,' Russian foreign minister says, claiming NATO's expansion proves this
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

He wrote on Facebook that "ship inspections are being resumed, despite the RF's (Russian Federation's) attempts to disrupt the agreement." Kyiv says Russian inspectors stopped letting through vessels supposed to ship grain from Ukraine. "Obviously, the Russians could not fail to take advantage of these nuances on the western (Ukrainian) border," Solsky told reporters. RIA quoted the Russian foreign ministry as on Wednesday as saying Ukraine and the United Nations were causing difficulties with the ship inspections. Ukraine and Poland reached an agreement on Tuesday to unblock transit of Ukrainian grain from Friday, but the import bans remain in place in Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

☆ US to advance small F-16 equipment sale to Turkey -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The U.S. State Department could send the formal notification for the smaller sale, which includes radars and avionics, as early as Monday, the sources said. If it is cleared by Congress during the formal approval process, the package would be the first major military sale to Turkey that Congress has approved for years. The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees, who have cleared the modernization package during the informal review, declined comment. The package is separate from the proposed $20 billion sale of new Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits that Turkey requested in October 2021. Such conditions are likely to anger Turkey, which has said the United States had "endless" demands relating to the sale of F-16s and that Washington's behavior wasn't fair.

☆ Killer drones and multi-billion dollar deals: Turkey's rapidly-growing defense industry is boosting its global clout
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Drones aren't the only thing elevating Turkey's status as a growing player in the global defense industry. Turnover for the country's defense industry as a whole last year was $10 billion, according to Turkey's Presidency of Defense Industries. And the investment shows in the numbers: research and development in Turkey's defense sector "recently increased by 30 percent," the Atlantic Council's report wrote. Turkish defense manufacturers say they are booked for the next several years with orders to help replenish NATO stockpiles. Those firms also have high demand from Turkey's military alone — it is, after all, the second-largest military in NATO after the United States.

Separately, in a televised interview on Wednesday, Erdogan downplayed the significance of the meeting with Simsek, saying such meetings were ordinary. A senior government official told Reuters the AKP was somewhat divided with some members opposed to Simsek's return, and described the outcome of the Erdogan meeting as "undesirable". The party may now need to revise its economic platform ahead of the election campaign, he added. The AKP declined to comment on whether it was revising its economic strategy ahead of the vote. Two recent polls by MAK and Turkiye Raporu show the opposition presidential challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu between 4 and 9 percentage points ahead of Erdogan.

☆ Cyprus leaders meet as peace talks remain deadlocked
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Iakovos Hatzistavrou/Pool via REUTERSNICOSIA, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Leaders of Cyprus's estranged Greek and Turkish communities met on Thursday as a deadlock persisted in peace talks on the ethnically divided island. The meeting was the first for newly elected Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, the new Greek Cypriot leader, and Ersin Tatar, the Turkish Cypriot leader. Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek-inspired coup, with Greek Cypriots living in its south and Turkish Cypriots in an unrecognised breakaway north. "The present state of affairs cannot be the solution to the Cyprus problem, not for Greek Cypriots, or Turkish Cypriots," Christodoulides said after the two-hour meeting with Tatar. "I didn't hear anything I didn't expect from Mr Tatar," Christodoulides said.

☆ Death toll rises after fresh earthquake hits Turkey-Syria border
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

View of damaged buildings after an earthquake on February 20, 2023 in Hatay, Türkiye, two weeks after a larger quake in the area killed more than 47,000 people. Six people were killed in an earthquake which struck the border region of Turkey and Syria, CNN Turk reported on Tuesday, two weeks after a larger quake killed more than 47,000 people and damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes. It said the quake struck while people were in the already damaged building to retrieve possessions before it was demolished. Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said 294 people were injured in Monday evening's earthquake, with 18 seriously hurt and transported to hospitals in Adana and Dortyol. Muna Al Omar said she was in a tent in a park in central Antakya when the ground started heaving again.

☆ Turkey and Syria rocked again by magnitude 6.3 earthquake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The death toll from a catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria has topped 46,000, with search and rescue teams starting to wind down their work. (Photo by Umut Unver / dia images via Getty Images)A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck the Turkey-Syria border region late on Monday, setting off panic and damaging buildings in Turkey's Antakya city two weeks after the country's worst earthquake in modern history left tens of thousands dead. Other witnesses said Turkish rescue teams were running around after the latest quake, checking people were unharmed. Muna Al Omar, a resident, said she was in a tent in a park in central Antakya when the earthquake hit. The two larger earthquakes that hit on Feb. 6, which also rocked neighboring Syria, left more than a million homeless and killed far more than the latest official tally of 46,000 people in both countries.

☆ Death toll rises to more than 21,000, rescues dwindle in earthquake aftermath
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Ahmet Izgi | Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesEmergency crews made a series of dramatic rescues in Turkey on Friday, pulling several people, some almost unscathed, from the rubble, four days after a catastrophic earthquake killed more than 21,000. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the border region between Turkey and Syria, an area home to more than 13.5 million people, early Monday morning. Mustafa Turan rushed to his hometown of Adiyaman from Istanbul hours after the quake struck to check on his relatives. Aerial footage from over the earthquake zone in Turkey revealed entire neighborhoods of high-rises reduced to twisted metal, pulverized concrete and exposed wires. A woman sits next to the body of her nephew in Kahramanmaras, on February 9, 2023, three days after a 7,8-magnitude earthquake struck southeast Turkey.

☆ Taiwan president to donate a month's salary for Turkey relief efforts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President William Lai will each donate a month's salary for Turkish earthquake relief efforts, the presidential office said on Thursday, adding to existing aid already sent by the island. Turkey, like most countries, has no diplomatic relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, but the two maintain de facto embassies in each other's capitals and there are direct flights between Istanbul and Taipei. Last year, Tsai and Lai also both donated one month's salary to aid humanitarian relief efforts for war-torn Ukraine. Taiwan, which frequently suffers earthquakes itself, has already announced $2 million in disaster relief and has sent two rescue teams to Turkey to help in search efforts for survivors. Turkey joined international efforts and sent rescuers to Taiwan in 1999 after a massive earthquake killed more than 2,000 people.

☆ Turkey's state of emergency is about the prioritization of resources, Turkiye Raporu says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailTurkey's state of emergency is about the prioritization of resources, Turkiye Raporu saysCan Selcuki, director at Turkiye Raporu, discusses the earthquake that hit Turkey and the country's state of emergency.

☆ Taliban administration to send earthquake aid to Turkey, Syria
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] People look on as the search for survivors continues in the aftermath of an earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, February 8, 2023. REUTERS/Suhaib SalemKABUL, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban administration will send around $165,000 in aid to Turkey and Syria to help the response to a devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck this week, according to a foreign ministry statement. The Taliban took over in 2021 as foreign forces withdrew, sparking enforcement of sanctions on its banking sector, and no capital has formally recognised its government. Many aid groups have partially suspended operations due to a Taliban administration ruling that most female NGO workers could not work, leaving agencies unable to operate many programmes in the conservative country. Western diplomats have said they will not consider formally recognising the administration unless it changes course on women's rights.

☆ Fears grow for untold numbers buried by Turkey earthquake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

But there was also widespread despair and growing anger at the slow pace of rescue efforts in some areas. People sitting on the rubble react in the aftermath of an earthquake, in rebel-held town of Jandaris, Syria February 7, 2023. Muhammet Ruzgar, 5, is carried out by rescuers from the site of a damaged building, following an earthquake in Hatay, Turkey, February 7, 2023. Vice President Fuat Oktoy said at least 5,894 people have died from the earthquake in Turkey, with another 34,810 injured. An aerial view shows damaged and collapsed buildings following an earthquake, in Hatay, Turkey February 7, 2023.

☆ U.S. Congress says F-16 sale to Turkey depends on NATO approval
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress cannot support the $20 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey until Ankara ratifies the NATO memberships of Sweden and Finland, a bipartisan group of senators said on Thursday. "Once the NATO accession protocols are ratified by Türkiye, Congress can consider the sale of F-16 fighter jets. A failure to do so, however, would call into question this pending sale," the senators wrote. It was the first time Congress explicitly and directly linked the F-16 sale to Turkey with the NATO accession bids of the two Nordic countries. Turkey requested in October 2021 to buy 40 Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes.

☆ Supreme Court Hears Bid by Turkey’s Halkbank to Avoid Charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Jan Wolfe | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Halkbank says it has sovereign immunity because it is majority-owned by the Turkish government. WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court on Tuesday weighed whether to shield Turkey’s Halkbank from charges that it helped Iran evade sanctions by laundering billions of dollars, a high-profile case that stoked tensions between the U.S. and Turkey. The case, Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States, is expected to clarify whether U.S. prosecutors can criminally charge corporations owned by foreign states. Halkbank says it has sovereign immunity because it is majority-owned by the Turkish government.

☆ State Department Recognizes Türkiye as Turkey’s Formal Name
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Vivian Salama | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government promoted the shift to the traditional, Turkish-language name in an effort to instill national pride. WASHINGTON—The State Department has complied with the Turkish government’s request to change its official spelling and pronunciation of the country’s name to Türkiye, weeks before an anticipated visit to Washington by the country’s foreign minister. The State Department had been a holdout within the U.S. government after other departments and agencies, including the White House, made the change several months ago.

☆ Gold ticks up in light trade after holiday weekend
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Gold prices edged up in early Asian hours on Tuesday, helped by a softer dollar, although trading was thin after the long Christmas weekend. U.S. gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,810.00. Data on Friday showed U.S. consumer spending rose 0.1% in November after climbing 0.4% in October, while inflation cooled further. The European Central Bank must be prepared to take the heat and raise interest rates further, ECB policymaker Isabel Schnabel said in an interview published on Saturday. SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.1% to 913.01 tons on Friday.

☆ At least 70,000 without power after 6.4-magnitude earthquake rattles Northern California
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

An infographic titled ''Earthquake hits Northern California'' with 6.4 magnitude earthquake in Ankara, Turkiye on December 20, 2022. (Photo by Omar Zaghloul/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)A 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked parts of Northern California early Tuesday, knocking out power for thousands. More than 70,000 utility customers were without power in Humboldt County as of 8 a.m. A number of people said on social media that they were woken up by the MyShake earthquake warning app on their cellphones. The quake comes almost exactly a year after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck offshore in the Cape Mendocino area of Northern California on Dec. 21 last year.

Talking turkey is a pastime in the halls of government around the world. Yet what to call Turkey, the country, is something many can’t agree on. In April, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked the international community to recognize his nation by its traditional name, spelled “Türkiye” and pronounced Tour-key-yeh.

☆ Turkey cuts rates by 150 basis points and ends easing cycle
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

An electronic board displays exchange rate information at a currency exchange bureau in Istanbul, Turkey, on Monday, Aug. 29, 2022. Turkey's central bank on Thursday cut interest rates by 150 basis points to 9% and decided to end its cycle of monetary policy easing, citing increased inflation risks. The central bank has been under consistent pressure from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to continue cutting rates despite soaring inflation, which hit 85.5% year-on-year in October as food and energy prices continued to soar. "Considering the increasing risks regarding global demand, the Committee evaluated that the current policy rate is adequate and decided to end the rate cut cycle that started in August," the central bank said in a statement. "The effects of high global inflation on inflation expectations and international financial markets are closely monitored.

☆ Anne Hathaway-backed VC firm Pact just closed the first tranche of its $36 million seed fund. Here's the 11-slide LP deck it used to raise the capital.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A female-founded VC firm has closed the first tranche of its £30 million ($36 million) early-stage fund. Check out the 11-slide LP deck the London-based firm used to raise the fresh funds. While investments will span Europe, Pact will help its portfolio companies scale into regions underserved by traditional investors, Gu told Insider. Gu will support companies looking to enter Asia while Pham and Mobassaleh-Wyndham will focus on EMEA, and specifically Türkiye. It sees this as a pull for potential portfolio companies who can then take advantage of the network's expertise.

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter employees must commit to 'hardcore' culture by 5 p.m. Eastern time
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In this photo illustration, the image of Elon Musk is displayed on a computer screen and the logo of twitter on a mobile phone in Ankara, Turkiye on October 06, 2022. Elon Musk asked Twitter employees to commit to a "hardcore" culture, where they are expected to work "long hours at high intensity," or resign. The company shared a "frequently asked questions" document overnight with employees, telling them "If you do not click 'yes' you are confirming your decision to resign. The document answer questions raised after Musk sent a companywide email on Wednesday to remaining employees, demanding they agree to working "long hours at high intensity" or receive "three months of severance." Musk closed the $44 billion purchase of Twitter at the end of October and swiftly moved to cut about half of the company's workforce, amounting to roughly 3,700 jobs.

☆ Twitter pauses paid verifications after users abuse service to impersonate brands and people
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Sofia Pitt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Twitter appears to have paused its $7.99/month Blue subscription service, which allowed people to pay for a verification check mark, after users were abusing it to impersonate brands and famous people. Twitter launched the service earlier this week in its iPhone app, allowing users to buy a checkmark that had previously been used to show that an account was verified or official. The paid subscription service led to a plethora of pranksters creating imposter accounts on Twitter. It left the platform even more ripe for misinformation, and many checkmarks were used to impersonate brands with unflattering messages. Some users who already paid for the service say their paid-for blue checkmark has disappeared from their account.

☆ U.N. experts call for release of Turkish medical association head
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Umit BektasGENEVA, Nov 8 (Reuters) - United Nations experts called on Ankara to release the head of Turkey's medical association, who was arrested after she called for an investigation into allegations of chemical weapons used by the Turkish army. Five special rapporteurs from the U.N. Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council said on Tuesday that Turkey should stop using counter-terrorism legislation to intimidate human rights defenders and release Fincanci. "Human rights defenders and medical practitioners' ability to speak truth to power must be protected. Their role in exposing human rights violations is one of the cornerstones of democratic societies," they added. Turkey's defence ministry and top officials also said the armed forces had never used chemical weapons in their operations against Kurdish militants.

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