Hard Numbers: No Sri Lanka-IMF deal, Polish border fence, all-male Taliban party, Argentina’s farm crisis

June 30, 2022

A man lifts a gas tank during an opposition protest demanding the resignation of President Gotabhaya Rajapakse in Sri Lanka.

Thilina Kaluthotage

10: On Thursday, Sri Lanka ended 10 days of talks with the IMF without agreeing on a bailout package to get the bankrupt island nation out of its worst-ever economic, social, and political crisis. Who else could help? India might find an opening to win Sri Lankan hearts and minds by offering the cash China now seems unwilling to provide.

115: Poland has completed its 115-mile fence along the border with Belarus inspired by last year’s border crisis. In late 2021, Belarusian strongman President Alexander Lukashenko triggered the crisis by pushing non-EU migrants into Poland as payback for earlier EU sanctions against Minsk.

3,000: On Thursday, the Taliban hosted the first big meeting of Islamic scholars and tribal elders since the group took over Afghanistan last summer. It was — unsurprisingly for the Taliban — an all-male gathering of 3,000 where men "represented" women.

24: Argentinian farmers are threatening to halt all exports for 24 hours if President Alberto Fernández doesn't do something about the crippling shortages of fuel and fertilizer. We've seen many national commodity export bans since Russia invaded Ukraine, aggravating the global food crisis, but this would be a rare one driven by a sector group against a government.

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Musk seeks productivity lists amid federal crackdown as discontent emerges

Elon Musk holds a chainsaw onstage as he attends the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on Feb. 20, 2025. The idea is that he's taking a chainsaw to the federal bureaucracy.

REUTERS/Nathan Howard

Mimicking a tactic he used to slash the size of Twitter’s workforce, White House senior adviser Elon Musk has instructed all 2.3 million federal employees to list five things they “accomplished last week" by midnight Monday. Some departments are instructing their employees to ignore the request.

Sudan’s RSF declares ‘Government of Peace,’ but war continues

Representatives of political and military groups in Sudan take part in a meeting to form a counter-government in the areas occupied by the Rapid Support Forces militia.

Reuters

After nearly two years of armed conflict, Sudan’s rebel Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, signed a charter with allied groups on Saturday to establish a “government of peace and unity” in territories now under their control.

The Ukraine war at three

People visit the graves of their relatives killed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A large-scale light installation "Lights of Memory" was held to mark the third anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion at the Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, on Feb. 23, 2025.

REUTERS/Roman Baluk

Monday marks three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, triggering Europe’s largest and deadliest war since World War II. GZERO looks at where things stand on the battlefield, the state of Western support, and who supports a negotiated settlement.

Ukraine and European security in the Trump era: Insights from Sen. Elissa Slotkin

Listen: Three years into the invasion of Ukraine, and amid the Trump administration’s rapid shift in US-Russia relations, can European and NATO allies continue to rely on the United States for support? On the GZERO World Podcast, Ian Bremmer is on the ground in Germany on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference for a hard look at the future of European security with US Senator Elissa Slotkin.

Ukraine's military technology could benefit all of Europe — Deputy Minister Anna Gvozdiar

- YouTube

youtu.be

At the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine was already punching above its weight in technology—having one of the most powerful IT hubs and digitized governments in the world. Now, three years into the war, tech innovation in Ukraine has become a battlefield advantage, one that Anna Gvozdiar, Deputy Minister for Strategic Industries, says could benefit all of Europe.

Hard Numbers: Israel mourns as bodies return home, Trump stokes pessimism and optimism, McConnell officially retires, Canada calls cartels “terrorists,” Archaeologists make major find in Egypt

Israelis sit together as they light candles and hold posters with the images Oded Lifschitz, Shiri Bibas, and her two children, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, seized during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, on the day the bodies of the deceased hostages were handed over under by Hamas on Feb. 20, 2025.

REUTERS/Itay Cohen

South Korea’s Yoon faces his first day in court

South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, February 20, 2025.

Matrix Images/Korea Pool

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol appeared before two courts on Thursday. His first stop at the Seoul Central District Court made him the first sitting president — he’s not yet been formally removed from office — to face criminal prosecution.

Hard Numbers: No Sri Lanka-IMF deal, Polish border fence, all-male Taliban party, Argentina’s farm crisis

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Musk seeks productivity lists amid federal crackdown as discontent emerges

Mimicking a tactic he used to slash the size of Twitter’s workforce, White House senior adviser Elon Musk has instructed all 2.3 million federal employees to list five things they “accomplished last week" by midnight Monday. Some departments are instructing their employees to ignore the request.

Pope Francis is in critical condition

Struck by “initial, mild kidney failure” and pneumonia in both lungs, the pontiff sought to soothe his faithful on Sunday morning with a message of gratitude for letters he had received.

Sudan’s RSF declares ‘Government of Peace,’ but war continues

After nearly two years of armed conflict, Sudan’s rebel Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, signed a charter with allied groups on Saturday to establish a “government of peace and unity” in territories now under their control.

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Monday marks three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, triggering Europe’s largest and deadliest war since World War II. GZERO looks at where things stand on the battlefield, the state of Western support, and who supports a negotiated settlement.

Can Europe defend Ukraine without US support?

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Hard Numbers: Israel mourns as bodies return home, Trump stokes pessimism and optimism, McConnell officially retires, Canada calls cartels “terrorists,” Archaeologists make major find in Egypt

South Korea’s Yoon faces his first day in court

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol appeared before two courts on Thursday. His first stop at the Seoul Central District Court made him the first sitting president — he’s not yet been formally removed from office — to face criminal prosecution.

Hard Numbers: No Sri Lanka-IMF deal, Polish border fence, all-male Taliban party, Argentina’s farm crisis

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Subscribe to GZERO Media's newsletter: Signal

More from GZERO Media

Struck by “initial, mild kidney failure” and pneumonia in both lungs, the pontiff sought to soothe his faithful on Sunday morning with a message of gratitude for letters he had received.

After nearly two years of armed conflict, Sudan’s rebel Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, signed a charter with allied groups on Saturday to establish a “government of peace and unity” in territories now under their control.

Monday marks three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, triggering Europe’s largest and deadliest war since World War II. GZERO looks at where things stand on the battlefield, the state of Western support, and who supports a negotiated settlement.

GZEROMEDIA

Subscribe to GZERO Media's newsletter: Signal

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol appeared before two courts on Thursday. His first stop at the Seoul Central District Court made him the first sitting president — he’s not yet been formally removed from office — to face criminal prosecution.