Greek bailout falters; ethnic clash kills 18 in China; Australia joins Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as founding member; more than 800 die in Karachi heatwave; US spied on France, according to Wikileaks; and more
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TOP OF THE AGENDA
Doubts About Greek Bailout Linger
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is in Brussels on Wednesday for emergency talks (Guardian) with the European Commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund. Earlier this week, Greece submitted a new proposal for an aid-for-reform deal, which Tsipras said was not accepted (Reuters). Tsipras also faces resistance (FT) from his leftist Syriza party. If a deal is not reached today, EU leaders fear that there will not be enough time to negotiate ahead of Greece's 1.5 billion euro payment deadline to the IMF next week.
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ANALYSIS
"What's at stake here isn't just Greece. It's the stability of a dozen-odd European governments, as well as the very notion of fiscal probity. That's why there are now so many people willing to call Tsipras's bluff, take the risk, let Greece default and see what happens," writes Anne Applebaum in the Washington Post.
"Mr. Tsipras has declared that Greece will default on its obligations to the IMF rather than let pensioners and civil servants go unpaid. The creditors warn that the Greek proposals are by no means a breakthough. But for the first time since the talks began, they offer hope that a deal can be struck," writes the Economist.
"If Greece were to leave the eurozone it would neither signal the beginning of the end of the currency, nor would Europe fall apart. On the contrary, the rest of the eurozone could grow closer and perhaps dare to take larger steps toward integration. Greece would remain a member of the EU, and could rejoin the monetary union later, after modernizing itself, and restoring competitiveness through the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). There are, after all, nine other EU member states that do not use the euro as their currency," writes Zhang Danhong in Deutsche Welle.
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PACIFIC RIM
Eighteen Dead in Attack in China's Xinjiang Region
At least eighteen people died in a clash (RFA) between ethnic Uighurs and police at a checkpoint in China's western Xinjiang autonomous region on Monday.
AUSTRALIA: Australia will join (WSJ) the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as a founding member, Australian Treasurer Joe Hockney announced on Wednesday. It will become the AIIB's sixth largest shareholder, slated to contribute $719 million over five years.
ELSEWHERE:
More than 800 die in Karachi heatwave
US spied on France according to Wikileaks
This is an excerpt of the CFR.org Daily News Brief. The full version is available on CFR.org
