Germany's Merz says there are no more range restrictions on the weapons supplied to Ukraine
BERLIN — Germany's new chancellor said Monday that his country and other major allies are no longer imposing any range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine as it fights the Russian invasion .
Friedrich Merz has plunged into diplomatic efforts to try to secure a ceasefire and keep Western support for Ukraine intact since becoming Germany's leader nearly three weeks ago.
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Wagner Group leaving Mali after heavy losses but Russia's Africa Corps to remain
DAKAR, Senegal -- The Russia-backed Wagner Group said Friday it is leaving Mali after more than three and a half years of fighting Islamic extremists and insurgents in the country. Despite Wagner's announcement, Russia will continue to have a mercenary presence in the West African country. The Africa Corps, Russia's state-controlled paramilitary force, said on its Telegram channel Friday that Wagner's departure would not introduce any changes and the Russian contingent will remain in Mali. "Mission accomplished. Private Military Company Wagner returns home,' the group announced via its channel on the messaging app Telegram. It said it had brought all regional capitals under control of the Malian army, pushed out armed militants and killed their commanders. Mali, along with neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for more than a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups, including some allied with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. As Western influence in the region has waned, Russia has sought to step into the vacuum, sweeping in with offers of assistance. Moscow initially expanded its military cooperation with African nations by using the Wagner Group of mercenaries. But since the group's leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in a plane crash in 2023, after mounting a brief armed rebellion in Russia that challenged the rule of President Vladimir Putin, Moscow has been developing the Africa Corps as a rival force to Wagner. Africa Corps is under direct command of the Russian defense ministry. According to U.S. officials, there are around 2,000 mercenaries in Mali. It is unclear how many are with Wagner and how many are part of the Africa Corps. Beverly Ochieng, a security analyst specializing in the Sahel for Control Risks consultancy, said the Russian defense ministry had been negotiating with Mali to take on more Africa Corps fighters and for Wagner mercenaries to join Russia's state-controlled paramilitary force. 'Since the death of Prigozhin, Russia has had this whole plan to then make the Wagner Group fall under the command of the Ministry of Defense. One of the steps they made was to revamp or introduce the Africa Corps, which is the way in which the Russian paramilitaries would retain a presence in areas where the Wagner group has been operating,' Ochieng said. Wagner has been present in Mali since late 2021 following a military coup, replacing French troops and international peacekeepers to help fight the militants. But the Malian army and Russian mercenaries struggled to curb violence in the country and have both been accused of targeting civilians. Last month, United Nations experts urged Malian authorities to investigate reports of alleged summary executions and forced disappearances by Wagner mercenaries and the army. In December, Human Rights Watch accused Malian armed forces and the Wagner Group of deliberately killing at least 32 civilians over an 8-month span. The announcement of Wagner's withdrawal comes as the Malian army and the Russian mercenaries suffered heavy losses during attacks by the al-Qaida linked group JNIM in recent weeks. Last week, JNIM fighters killed dozens of soldiers in an attack on a military base in central Mali. Rida Lyammouri, a Sahel expert at the Morocco-based Policy Center for the New South, said the major losses might have caused the possible end of Wagner's mission. 'The lack of an official and mutual announcement from both the Malian authorities and Wagner indicate possible internal dispute which led to this sudden decision. Simultaneously, this could point to a new framework for Russian presence in the country," he said. Replacing Wagner with Africa Corps troops would likely shift Russia's focus in Mali from fighting alongside the Malian army to training, said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. 'Africa Corps has a lighter footprint and focuses more on training, providing equipment and doing protection services. They fight less than the 'Rambo-type' Wagner mercenaries,' Laessing said.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Tariffs Deliver Record Drop in US Trade Deficit
Call it the gravitational pull of Trump's tariffs: First came the tidal wave; now, the tide is receding. After a record-breaking trade deficit in March, as businesses rushed to order goods ahead of a massive spike in import duties, data from the US Commerce Department on Thursday shows that April delivered a record-breaking decrease in the trade deficit. Does that mean the US has won the first big battle of the trade war? Well, it's complicated. READ ALSO: Circle Spirals Upward in $1 Billion IPO and NBA Finals Kick Off With an Old (Footwear) Friend So just how big was the drop? In April, the trade deficit narrowed to just $61.6 billion — way, way, way smaller than the record-setting, Grand Canyon-sized $138.3 billion chasm seen in March. That marks the largest month-over-month deficit contraction on record, according to the Commerce Department, and comes in below consensus expectations of approximately $66 billion. Overall, imports of foreign goods fell about 16% month-over-month to $351 billion, the report said. According to a data analysis by The New York Times combining figures from the Commerce Department and tracking by Moody's Analytics, the decrease included importing fewer cell phones from China, pharmaceuticals from Switzerland and Ireland, and automotive parts from South Korea, Japan, Mexico, and Canada. Canada reported a record trade deficit of its own on Thursday, of about $5.2 billion (in US currency) in April, as its auto industry gets crushed by tariffs. Curbing America's reliance on imports was just Step One of the White House's economic plan. In April, at least, it looks like Mission Accomplished (Note: Economists don't tend to think deficits are inherently negative). But Step Two in the plan was reviving America's manufacturing core, and it remains unclear if tariffs will prove an effective tool to that end: Helping shrink the deficit gap was a 3% bump in US exports to $289.4 billion in April, per the Commerce Department — also good for nearly $16 billion more than recorded in April 2024. From March to April, the US swung from a trade deficit to a trade surplus with several countries, including Australia, Switzerland, and Spain. That said, US manufacturing isn't exactly thriving under the new stop-and-start tariff regime. Manufacturing activity contracted for the third consecutive month in May, according to an Institute for Supply Management survey released earlier this week, as tariffs spike the prices and delivery times of inputs; the materials shortage has caused particular headaches in the auto industry, with Ford even temporarily halting production at a Chicago plant last week. Deals, Deals, Deals: Step Three in the White House's plan has been to use the threat of major tariffs to renegotiate trade deals with countries the world over. Thursday also provided some updates on that front, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visiting the White House as the European Union continues to hash out trade agreements with the US. 'He's a very great representative of Germany,' POTUS Trump said of Merz, adding, 'We'll have a good trade deal.' The White House also agreed to further talks with leaders in Beijing on Thursday, with the president saying 'we're in very good shape with China and the trade deal' after the two sides had gotten 'a little off-track.' This post first appeared on The Daily Upside. To receive delivering razor sharp analysis and perspective on all things finance, economics, and markets, subscribe to our free The Daily Upside newsletter.
Bloomberg
2 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Panetta on SCOTUS Giving DOGE Access to Social Security Data
Leon Panetta, Former US Secretary of Defense, voices his concerns about the US Supreme Court giving DOGE access to social security data after Elon Musk and President Trump's feud. He also criticizes President Trump's latest position on Russia and Ukraine. Leon Panetta speaks with Kailey Leinz and Joe Mathieu on the late edition of Bloomberg's 'Balance of Power.' (Source: Bloomberg)
