NAIROBI, April 29 (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya said on Thursday it had told the United Nations it will shut by June 2022 two camps holding over 410,000 refugees who fled from wars in the east and Horn of Africa, adding it planned to repatriate some and give others residency.
The interior ministry made the announcement on Twitter about five weeks after ordering the closure of the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps and giving the United Nations two weeks to present a plan to carry this out.
The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) replied by asking the government to ensure that vulnerable refugees would still be protected under its timeline for the closure. A Nairobi spokesman for the UNHCR did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest announcement.
One of the two refugee camps in northern Kenya, Dadaab, close to the sensitive border with war-racked Somalia, was set up in 1991. In 2011, amid famine and chaos in Somalia, it was the world&#8217;s largest camp.
Thursday&#8217;s announcement appeared to be the decisive step by Kenya after years of discussion about closing Dadaab. The interior ministry tweet included a photo of a meeting between Minister Fred Matiang&#8217;i and UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi.
&#8220;Among the precursory activities in (the government&#8217;s) roadmap is repatriation of refugees to countries of origin and socio-economic integration of some of them through Work/Residence Permits (in Kenya),&#8221; the tweet read.
Legal challenges could follow. Earlier this month, a Kenyan court ruled against the closure of the camps.
Authorities in Nairobi first announced their intention to shut the Dadaab camp back in 2016, citing national security concerns over infiltration by militants from the Somalia-based Islamist group al Shabaab.
Relations between Kenya and Somalia have deteriorated badly in the past year since Mogadishu cut diplomatic ties with Nairobi, accusing it of interfering in its internal affairs.
Kenya contributes troops to the African Union peacekeeping force deployed in Somalia to curb the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab that seeks to topple the government. In a sign of the tense relationship, Somalia said in January it had lost confidence in Kenyan troops serving in the peacekeeping mission. (Reporting by Duncan Miriri Writing by Maggie Fick Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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Kenya tells U.N. it will shut two camps with 410,000 refugees by June 2022

(Adds Zambia)
NAIROBI, April 29 (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya&#8217;s and Nigeria&#8217;s currencies are expected to trade within existing ranges in the coming week, analysts and traders said. Tanzania&#8217;s currency is seen holding steady, while Uganda&#8217;s is expected to firm.
NIGERIA
The naira is seen range-bound next week as the central bank tries to boost forex sales through direct interventions to local firms and foreign investors, traders said.
The currency traded within a range of 410.46 naira to 422 naira on the over-the-counter spot market on Thursday after the central bank last week re-priced its futures rate upwards and sold dollars to foreign investors.
The naira was quoted at 485 per dollar on the black market on Thursday, a level it touched last week. It remains flat on the official market, which is backed by the central bank, at 381 naira, where it has been stuck since last July.

TANZANIA
Tanzania&#8217;s shilling is expected to hold steady next week as demand for the U.S. dollar from oil and manufacturing importers will be offset by inflows from foreign direct investments.
Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 2,310/2,324 on Thursday, the same levels recorded a week earlier.
&#8220;We expect the shilling to remain stable, supported by expected inflows from Chinese investors,&#8221; said Terry Karanja, a treasury associate at AZA, a Nairobi-based FX trading firm.

KENYA
Kenya&#8217;s shilling is also expected to be range-bound in the coming week, depending on the level of demand for dollars from importers, especially on the energy side as companies meet their end-of-month obligations, traders said.
On Thursday, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 107.75/107.95 against the dollar compared with last week&#8217;s close of 108.40/108.60.
&#8220;It is expected to trade within the range of 107.50 to 108.50 in the coming week,&#8221; one trader at a Nairobi-based commercial bank said.

UGANDA
The Ugandan shilling is seen extending its gains in the coming days amid low appetite for hard currency from importers.
At 0845 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,590/3,600, compared to last Thursday&#8217;s close of 3,605/3,615.
Demand from importers is expected to remain flat, a trader at one commercial bank said.
&#8220;I think it has something to do with the overall slump in consumer spending due to the effects of COVID-19,&#8221; he said, adding the shilling could trade between 3,575-3,600.

ZAMBIA
The kwacha is likely to continue trading on the back foot against the dollar in the week ahead as demand for hard currency, driven by factors including debt servicing, continues to surpass supply. On Thursday, commercial banks quoted the currency of Africa’s second largest copper producer at 22.2740 per dollar, marginally down from a close of 22.2300 at the close of business last Thursday. Zambia National Commercial Bank (ZANACO) said in a weekly note, although the central bank was likely to continue with foreign exchange injections, that market conditions still pointed to a troubled Kwacha. (Reporting by Omar Mohammed, Nuzulack Dausen, Elias Biryabarema, Chijioke Ohuocha. Editing by Mark Potter and Elaine Hardcastle)
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AFRICA-FX-Kenyan, Nigerian currencies seen range-bound

NAIROBI, April 29 (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya&#8217;s and Nigeria&#8217;s currencies are expected to trade within existing ranges in the coming week, analysts and traders said. Tanzania&#8217;s currency is seen holding steady, while Uganda&#8217;s is expected to firm.
NIGERIA
The naira is seen range-bound next week as the central bank tries to boost forex sales through direct interventions to local firms and foreign investors, traders said.
The currency traded within a range of 410.46 naira to 422 naira on the over-the-counter spot market on Thursday after the central bank last week re-priced its futures rate upwards and sold dollars to foreign investors.
The naira was quoted at 485 per dollar on the black market on Thursday, a level it touched last week. It remains flat on the official market, which is backed by the central bank, at 381 naira, where it has been stuck since last July.

TANZANIA
Tanzania&#8217;s shilling is expected to hold steady next week as demand for the U.S. dollar from oil and manufacturing importers will be offset by inflows from foreign direct investments.
Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 2,310/2,324 on Thursday, the same levels recorded a week earlier.
&#8220;We expect the shilling to remain stable, supported by expected inflows from Chinese investors,&#8221; said Terry Karanja, a treasury associate at AZA, a Nairobi-based FX trading firm.

KENYA
Kenya&#8217;s shilling is also expected to be range-bound in the coming week, depending on the level of demand for dollars from importers, especially on the energy side as companies meet their end-of-month obligations, traders said.
On Thursday, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 107.75/107.95 against the dollar compared with last week&#8217;s close of 108.40/108.60.
&#8220;It is expected to trade within the range of 107.50 to 108.50 in the coming week,&#8221; said one trader at a Nairobi-based commercial bank.

UGANDA
The Ugandan shilling is seen extending its gains in the coming days amid low appetite for hard currency from importers.
At 0845 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,590/3,600, compared to last Thursday&#8217;s close of 3,605/3,615.
Demand from importers is expected to remain flat, said a trader at one commercial bank.
&#8220;I think it has something to do with the overall slump in consumer spending due to the effects of COVID-19,&#8221; he said, adding the shilling could trade between 3,575-3,600. (Reporting by Omar Mohammed, Nuzulack Dausen, Elias Biryabarema, Chijioke Ohuocha. Editing by Mark Potter)
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WEEKAHEAD-AFRICA-FX-Kenyan, Nigerian currencies seen range-bound

NAIROBI, April 29 (Reuters) &#8211; The raging state of the COVID-19 pandemic is India is a wake-up call for Africa that its governments and citizens must not let their guards down, the African Union&#8217;s disease control agency warned on Thursday.
African nations generally do not have sufficient numbers of health care workers, hospital beds, oxygen supplies, and the continent of 1.3 billion would be even more overwhelmed than India if cases surged in a similar way, said John Nkengasgong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
&#8220;We are watching with total disbelief&#8230;What is happening in India cannot be ignored by our continent,&#8221; he told reporters.
Nkengasgong urged Africans to wear masks and avoid large gatherings, warning: &#8220;We cannot and should not find ourselves in (India&#8217;s) scenario because of the very fragile nature of our health systems.&#8221;
The AU will convene a meeting with all African ministers of health on May 8, Nkengasong said, to &#8220;put everybody on alert&#8221;.
India, with 1.35 billion people, has a similar population size to the African continent, yet Africa has even weaker health systems, and unlike India does not manufacture significant quantities of drugs or vaccines, he added.
Heeding public health guidance is critical in Africa at the moment because the continent&#8217;s rollout of COVID-19 vaccines is hindered by the crisis in India, Nkengasong said.
The bulk of the vaccines supplied so far to Africa via the global vaccine-sharing facility COVAX have been AstraZeneca shots manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. India suspended its exports of the shot in March to cope with rising domestic demand.
It remains unclear when exports will resume, Nkengasong said on Thursday, warning the situation in India could impact the predictability of Africa&#8217;s vaccine rollout &#8220;for the weeks and perhaps months to come&#8221;.
Africa recorded nearly 76,000 new COVID-19 infections from April 19-25, a 8% decline from the previous week, according to Africa CDC data.
India reported more than 379,000 new COVID-19 cases and 3,645 new deaths on Thursday alone. It was the highest number of deaths reported in a single day in the world&#8217;s second most populous country since the start of the pandemic. (Reporting by Maggie Fick Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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India’s COVID-19 emergency is wake-up call to Africa -AU health chief

ISTANBUL, April 29 (Reuters) &#8211; The Turkish government&#8217;s decision to ban alcohol sales during a 17-day COVID-19 lockdown that starts on Thursday has angered some secular Turks who see it as President Tayyip Erdogan&#8217;s latest imposition of a religious lifestyle on all of society.
Erdogan announced the lockdown on Monday, saying schools and most shops would be closed and people would be required to mostly stay at home in order to curb a surge in infections and deaths.
On Tuesday, his Islamist-rooted AK Party government announced that alcohol sales would also be banned until May 17, prompting secular Turks to rush to stock up drinks cabinets before the measures come into force late on Thursday.
The government said the ban was intended to avoid giving supermarkets, which will be allowed to stay open for food shopping, a monopoly on alcohol sales to the detriment of smaller shops, which will be forced to close.
But that explanation did not convince all Turks, with some saying the ban had nothing to do with fighting the pandemic and pointing out that one of the exemptions from lockdown covered people praying at mosques.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t think this has to do with coronavirus. I believe the government thought &#8216;let&#8217;s ban it from now so that people slowly get used to it&#8217;,&#8221; said Adem Gulen, a recent graduate in Istanbul.
Speaking in a televised interview on Wednesday, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu dismissed the idea that by banning alcohol sales the government aimed to limit citizens&#8217; choices, pointing to other pandemic measures such as travel restrictions.
Since the ban was announced, people have queued outside liquor stores while at some supermarkets beer and wine shelves have been left empty.
&#8220;It interferes with the secular lifestyle, and is an intervention in the food and drink culture,&#8221; said Ozgur Aybas, head of a liquor store association.
&#8220;Of course our problem is not alcohol. It is the intervention in our private lives,&#8221; he said.
The majority of Turks are observant Muslims. Secular Turks, who tend to oppose Erdogan&#8217;s AK Party, have complained in recent years that his increasingly religious agenda has encroached on their lifestyle.
The president, who has ruled Turkey for 18 years, regularly says he wants to raise a pious generation and has in the past called on citizens to have at least three children.
South Africa banned alcohol sales for two limited periods since the start of the pandemic, arguing that hospitals at risk of being overwhelmed by COVID patients should not also have to deal with people coming in for alcohol-related reasons. (Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen, editing by Jonathan Spicer and Estelle Shirbon)
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Turks see Erdogan’s pious hand behind alcohol sales ban during lockdown

* Turkish central bank expects inflation to rise further
* JPMorgan raises South Africa rand exposure to &#8220;overweight&#8221;
* Polish zloty in focus over court decision on FX mortgages
By Shashank Nayar
April 29 (Reuters) &#8211; A dovish message from the U.S. Federal Reserve and more stimulus from Washington saw emerging markets&#8217; stocks and currency indexes scale two-month peaks on Thursday while Turkey&#8217;s central bank flagged inflation pressures and pledged a tight policy.
MSCI&#8217;s indexes of emerging currencies and stocks jumped 0.4%, extending a recent multi-day run of gains.
The Federal Reserve said it wants to keep monetary policy loose for the foreseeable future, helping global risk assets in addition to optimism from a $1.8 trillion stimulus package.
The Turkish lira firmed 0.4% against the dollar after Central Bank Governor Sahap Kavcioglu said in his first quarterly inflation report that tight policy will be maintained on high inflation expectations as the economy suffers from a jump in coronavirus infections and a weak currency.
However, the lira has dropped some 9% so far this year, making it one of the worst performing emerging market currencies.
South Africa&#8217;s rand strengthened 0.3% to its highest since January 2020, extending a stellar run that has seen it become the best performing emerging market currency over the past 12 months.
&#8220;The currency has been well-supported by a host of factors, including current account surplus, positive real yields and contained inflation as well as relatively low positioning among real money investors,&#8221; said JPMorgan&#8217;s Saad Siddiqui, raising its exposure on the currency to &#8220;overweight&#8221; from &#8220;market weight&#8221;.

Russia&#8217;s rouble eked out small gains to hover above the 74 level, helped by rising oil prices and improving geo-political tensions.
The rouble is set for its best month since last December after Russia said it would withdraw some troops from the border with Ukraine, easing fears of new sanctions against Moscow after the United States barred its banks from buying OFZ government bonds in primary auctions from mid-June.
&#8220;The rouble exchange rate was rocked by a combination of fresh U.S. sanctions and military escalation along Russia&#8217;s border with Ukraine, volatility from those developments largely calmed down, but anxiety lingers among investors because major threats were exchanged when things were heated up,&#8221; said Tatha Ghose, an analyst at Commerzbank.
Most central European currencies traded flat against the euro, with Hungary&#8217;s forint being the top gainer, up 0.3% after its average annual wages jumped 9.6% in February, the Central Statistics Office (KSH) said.
Meanwhile the Polish zloty recorded only marginal gains in cautious trade as investors focus on an European court decision on FX mortgages.
Central Europe&#8217;s rate-setters for the most part look set to weather a looming spike in inflation and let their economies rebound with a vengeance from the COVID-19 shutdown, propelled by strong domestic demand, investments and European Union funds.

For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance in 2021, see http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance in 2021, see https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX

For TOP NEWS across emerging markets
For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see
For TURKISH market report, see
For RUSSIAN market report, see
(Reporting by Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru, editing by Karin Strohecker and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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EMERGING MARKETS-Fed, U.S. stimulus hopes lift currencies, equities to 2-month high

By Alexander Cornwell
DUBAI, April 29 (Reuters) &#8211; DP World, best known for operating ports around the world, has launched a wholesale e-commerce website that it hopes will become the global platform for businesses to buy and sell goods.
The platform, Dubuy, aims to connect buyers and sellers around the world with goods offered for delivery via the supply chain of DP World and its logistics partners.
Dubuy is already live in Rwanda and will soon be expanded to some east African countries including Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, before being rolled out across the continent.
It will also be launched in markets outside Africa.
&#8220;We are multimodal. We are not only a port terminal operator. We are a global trade enabler. That&#8217;s our vision,&#8221; said Mahmood Al Bastaki, chief operating officer of DT World, a wholly-owned DP World subsidiary.
&#8220;We want to be in anything that has to do with the movement of cargo.&#8221;
Dubuy expects to cover half of Africa in the next two and a half years and the entire continent within four years. The platform is already linked to sellers in Dubai, the emirate that owns DP World and where it is headquartered.
Dubuy is partnering with mobile providers to facilitate digital wallet payments and is separately looking at how sellers can ship their own goods if they choose to.
Al Bastaki declined to disclose how much money DP World had so far put into Dubuy. He said 25 DP World employees were working full-time on the platform, in addition to many more contractors.
DP World wants Dubuy to be the world&#8217;s biggest business-to-business e-commerce platform but has no plans to compete with Amazon or other business-to-consumer platforms, Al Bastaki said.
&#8220;Once it succeeds, the money will come from the platform itself. Not from the ports. So it can sustain itself by itself.&#8221;
Dubuy is targeting to have one million individual products available on Dubuy by next year, and DP World is offering guaranteed shipping dates to encourage users to sign up.
DP World is also developing other platforms, including offering trade finance to exporters, importers and others, and a freight booking platform that shows different company rates.
&#8220;We want the importer to import more, to continue importing, and the exporter to export more and to continue exporting. We want the flow of goods to continue,&#8221; Al Bastaki said. (Reporting by Alexander Cornwell. Editing by Mark Potter)
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Port operator DP World launches wholesale e-commerce platform

(Repeats story from Wednesday without changes to text)
By Karin Strohecker
LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) &#8211; The rand has emerged as an unlikely winner among emerging market currencies since the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe, despite South Africa&#8217;s high levels of debt and unemployment.
U.S. sanctions have rumbled Russian bond markets, Turkish assets have been hit by monetary policy concerns and other big developing countries such as India and Brazil have taken a hard hit from the coronavirus crisis.
&#8220;The rand has been trading very, very well, like a safe haven almost, within the high-yield part of the index,&#8221; James Lord, global head of FXEM strategy at Morgan Stanley, said.
The South African currency has strengthened 2.4% this year and soared some 30% over the past 12 months, while an index of emerging market currencies is down around 2%.
And rand-denominated government bonds have delivered handsome returns despite this year&#8217;s hefty rise in U.S. Treasury yields, which roiled other emerging markets.
South Africa offers some of the highest real yields in major emerging markets, with 10-year government bonds yielding just over 9% with inflation at 3.2% year-on-year .
&#8220;Russia and Turkey obviously have huge amounts of domestic risk &#8230; and people are a little bit hesitant to get too involved in these markets, which leaves South Africa as the default option if you want to invest in a big, liquid market that has yield,&#8221; Lord added.
Morgan Stanley calculations show that South African bonds grew to 1.8% overweight &#8211; the largest in the index &#8211; by the end of March. Lord says this trend has accelerated again in the first two weeks of April.

Commodity price gains have bolstered South Africa&#8217;s case, said Manik Narain at UBS, who points to metal fuelled export growth being up 20% year-on-year in February. That has lifted the country&#8217;s trade surplus to 6% of GDP, its highest in more than three decades.
South Africa now appears to be a far cry from its time among the so-called Fragile Five, a group of countries roiled by the 2013 taper tantrum due to their reliance on foreign capital to plug funding deficits.


Meanwhile stocks have given bonds a run for their money. The MSCI South Africa is up 15% this year, in dollar terms one of the best performing in the emerging world.
But Africa&#8217;s most industrialised economy faces challenges, with the government trying to rein in public sector salaries to arrest a rapid debt build-up exacerbated by the pandemic.
And one of South Africa&#8217;s largest public sector trade unions is preparing for a strike over stalled wage talks.
&#8220;Further progress on the public sector wage bill is key,&#8221; said Narain, adding the fiscal arithmetic raised more flags with trend growth of 5-6% below effective funding rates of 7.5%.
And some analysts expecting commodity price gains to slow or even decline in the second half of the year.
JPMorgan&#8217;s Sonja Keller predicts the economy might grow just 0.4% in the first quarter, and that the rand could soften to 16 to the dollar in the forth quarter, from currently 14.32.
&#8220;They have been dealing with the pandemic reasonably well recently which is great but there is implementation risk on the fiscal side,&#8221; Morgan Stanley&#8217;s Lord said, adding: &#8220;Can they deliver on their targets of consolidating the budget?&#8221;
(Reporting by Karin Strohecker; Editing by Alexander Smith)
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RPT-South Africa a surprise safe haven in emerging market maelstrom

By Nick Carey
LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) &#8211; Global electric vehicle (EV) sales picked up speed in the first quarter, but more government action is needed on charging stations and fossil-fuel vehicle bans to keep the momentum going, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday.
&#8220;We still see no sign of a slowdown in global electric car markets,&#8221; said Timur Gül, head of the IEA&#8217;s energy technology policy division, in a presentation on the global outlook for EVs.
While the COVID-19 pandemic drove global car sales down 16% in 2020, EV sales jumped 41% to around 3 million vehicles.
First quarter global EV sales soared 140% to 1.1 million vehicles, with strong growth in China, Europe and the United States, the IEA said.
A Munich Mobility Show study released last week showed huge disparities in global EV ownership, with very few electrified vehicles on the roads in large markets like Russia, South America and Africa.
EV sales growth in Europe and China has been fueled by tightening CO2 emissions standards and government subsidies.
Globally, consumers spent around $120 billion on EVs in 2020, while governments forked out around $13 billion in subsidies, or equivalent to around 10% of total spending, down from 20% of total spending in 2015.
That will fall further as battery prices drop and EVs reach cost parity with fossil-fuel vehicles, which IEA energy analyst Jacopo Tattini said should happen by 2030.
&#8220;But policies must be strengthened to enable a larger electric vehicle deployment,&#8221; Tattini said.
He said governments need to further tighten fuel economy standards and join the 20 or so countries that have already announced plans to ban on sales of new fossil-fuel vehicles &#8211; such as the United Kingdom, which has announced a ban from 2030.
Governments also need to keep up spending on charging infrastructure, Tattini said. Carmakers and environmental groups say more spending on EV chargers is needed to foster consumer confidence in the technology and support sales. (Reporting by Nick Carey. Editing by Mark Potter)
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Global EV sales accelerating, but government help needed – IEA

By Carl O&#8217;Donnell and Julie Steenhuysen
April 29 (Reuters) &#8211; Moderna Inc said on Thursday it is boosting manufacturing capacity for its COVID-19 vaccine and expects to make up to 3 billion doses in 2022, more than twice its previous forecast.
It also said it is increasing its expectations for 2021 vaccine production to between 800 million and 1 billion shots, raising the bottom of its range from 700 million.
The final number of inoculations will depend on how many are lower-dose formulations for boosters and immunizations for children. Moderna shots currently deploy 100 micrograms of vaccine substance but some future shots may use only 50 micrograms.
&#8220;As we look forward to next year, we just see so much need for primary vaccine, we are hearing it all over the world, and also boosters,&#8221; Moderna President Stephen Hoge said in an interview.
&#8220;So depending upon&#8230; how much the ordering that happens is third doses or pediatric doses at 50 micrograms, we could see up to 3 billion doses,&#8221; he added. Moderna had previously said it expected to make 1.4 billion shots in 2022.
Moderna also said new data suggests its shots can be stored safely for up to three months at refrigerator temperatures, making it easier to get them to hard to reach areas that may not have access to freezers. &#8220;That might be a breakthrough that really matters in 2022 in Africa and across lower and middle income countries,&#8221; Hoge said.
Wealthy governments have been trying to stock up on COVID-19 shots from Moderna and Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE after safety concerns and production problems temporarily sidelined vaccines from AstraZeneca Plc and Johnson &amp; Johnson.
But even as rich countries speed up their vaccine rollouts, other parts of the world are facing sharp upticks in cases and struggling to acquire needed shots.
India has recorded more than 300,000 cases each day and more than 2,000 deaths in the past week. Fewer than 10% of its more than 1.3 billion citizens have received one dose and only around 20 million are fully inoculated against the virus.
Moderna expects to double output at a drug substance plant in Switzerland run by Lonza Group AG and boost production in a Spain-based facility owned by Laboratorios Farmaceuticos ROVI SA more than two-fold. U.S. plants will also raise output by more than 50%.
Moderna&#8217;s two-dose vaccine uses messenger-RNA technology that programs cells to build immunity to the novel coronavirus.
The U.S. drugmaker said it would begin making investments this year and that production boosts would start in late 2021 and carry into early 2022.
Moderna said it is in advanced talks for additional deals with other manufacturers to help make its shots. Moderna earlier this month announced shot production deals with Sanofi SA and Catalent Inc.
The company would need regulatory sign-off to start shipping vaccine at the higher, refrigerator-level temperatures.
So far, Johnson &amp; Johnson and AstraZeneca have been the only major global drugmakers with authorized COVID-19 shots that can be stored without a freezer.
Both companies have faced production problems and reports of severe side effects that have slowed uptake of their vaccines.
Moderna Inc said on Wednesday the U.S. government had agreed to increase the contract for the company’s COVID-19 vaccine by $236 million to roughly $1.25 billion, to include additional costs related to the shot’s studies. (Reporting by Carl O&#8217;Donnell; editing by Peter Henderson and Cynthia Osterman)
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Moderna boosting COVID-19 vaccine-making capacity, targets up to 3 billion shots in 2022

By Anna Mehler Paperny
TORONTO, April 28 (Reuters) &#8211; Canada&#8217;s refugee resettlement is off to a slow start this year, with just over 1,000 refugees settled through early March, government data show, raising doubts about the country&#8217;s ability to achieve its ambitious 2021 target.
In the midst of a global pandemic, Canada resettled more than 9,000 refugees last year. While that was less than half of any national total since at least 2015, it still amounted to about 40% of the global number of resettled refugees last year.
Missing its target casts a shadow on the image Canada is burnishing of itself as a global leader in refugee resettlement. But it also leaves thousands of displaced people in desperate straits as their situation grows increasingly dire.
Worldwide refugee resettlement plummeted last year to its lowest point in almost two decades, as countries closed their borders in the face of a global public health emergency. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is striving to reverse that decline by securing commitments from countries to bring in displaced people.
Canada is seeking a lead role in this global effort and has been speaking with other countries about establishing specialized refugee streams. The country set its 2021 target at 36,000, its highest since 2016 and about four times its 2020 total.
A spokesman for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marco Mendicino said the total resettlements through early March topped 1,000.
&#8220;I am concerned about the ongoing challenges in our system, particularly with regards to the capacity of our international partners to move people across borders,&#8221; Mendicino said in an interview.
He said the government remains &#8220;very much resolved&#8221; to meet its goal. But &#8220;we completely acknowledge we are still in the throes of this pandemic, and that may have an impact.
&#8220;It&#8217;s too early to say whether or not we will be able to achieve that goal.&#8221;
Between January, 2015 and February, 2021, Canada&#8217;s resettled refugees came predominantly from Africa and the Middle East, with 76,300 of the 160,490 from Syria.
Meanwhile the situation for displaced persons is worsening, said UNHCR senior resettlement officer Michael Casasola.
Access to food is a challenge. People’s mental health is deteriorating. And many are struggling to support themselves financially, especially those who once relied on remittances that have now dried up.
And &#8220;there have been all sorts of challenges in the field” thanks to COVID, Casasola said – challenges as basic as getting a refugee from a camp to an airport.

(Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny Editing by Denny Thomas and Alistair Bell)
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Canada risks missing annual refugee resettlement target after slow start

By Karin Strohecker
LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) &#8211; The rand has emerged as an unlikely winner among emerging market currencies since the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe, despite South Africa&#8217;s high levels of debt and unemployment.
U.S. sanctions have rumbled Russian bond markets, Turkish assets have been hit by monetary policy concerns and other big developing countries such as India and Brazil have taken a hard hit from the coronavirus crisis.
&#8220;The rand has been trading very, very well, like a safe haven almost, within the high-yield part of the index,&#8221; James Lord, global head of FXEM strategy at Morgan Stanley, said.
The South African currency has strengthened 2.4% this year and soared some 30% over the past 12 months, while an index of emerging market currencies is down around 2%.
And rand-denominated government bonds have delivered handsome returns despite this year&#8217;s hefty rise in U.S. Treasury yields, which roiled other emerging markets.
South Africa offers some of the highest real yields in major emerging markets, with 10-year government bonds yielding just over 9% with inflation at 3.2% year-on-year .
&#8220;Russia and Turkey obviously have huge amounts of domestic risk &#8230; and people are a little bit hesitant to get too involved in these markets, which leaves South Africa as the default option if you want to invest in a big, liquid market that has yield,&#8221; Lord added.
Morgan Stanley calculations show that South African bonds grew to 1.8% overweight &#8211; the largest in the index &#8211; by the end of March. Lord says this trend has accelerated again in the first two weeks of April.

Commodity price gains have bolstered South Africa&#8217;s case, said Manik Narain at UBS, who points to metal fuelled export growth being up 20% year-on-year in February. That has lifted the country&#8217;s trade surplus to 6% of GDP, its highest in more than three decades.
South Africa now appears to be a far cry from its time among the so-called Fragile Five, a group of countries roiled by the 2013 taper tantrum due to their reliance on foreign capital to plug funding deficits.


Meanwhile stocks have given bonds a run for their money. The MSCI South Africa is up 15% this year, in dollar terms one of the best performing in the emerging world.
But Africa&#8217;s most industrialised economy faces challenges, with the government trying to rein in public sector salaries to arrest a rapid debt build-up exacerbated by the pandemic.
And one of South Africa&#8217;s largest public sector trade unions is preparing for a strike over stalled wage talks.
&#8220;Further progress on the public sector wage bill is key,&#8221; said Narain, adding the fiscal arithmetic raised more flags with trend growth of 5-6% below effective funding rates of 7.5%.
And some analysts expecting commodity price gains to slow or even decline in the second half of the year.
JPMorgan&#8217;s Sonja Keller predicts the economy might grow just 0.4% in the first quarter, and that the rand could soften to 16 to the dollar in the forth quarter, from currently 14.32.
&#8220;They have been dealing with the pandemic reasonably well recently which is great but there is implementation risk on the fiscal side,&#8221; Morgan Stanley&#8217;s Lord said, adding: &#8220;Can they deliver on their targets of consolidating the budget?&#8221;
(Reporting by Karin Strohecker; Editing by Alexander Smith)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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&nbsp;

South Africa a surprise safe haven in emerging market maelstrom

GABORONE, April 28 (Reuters) &#8211; A Southern African leaders meeting that was scheduled for Thursday to address the Islamic State-linked insurgency in Mozambique has been postponed, Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi&#8217;s office said on Wednesday.
The meeting was to receive a report from a team sent to Mozambique to assess the security situation and identify ways to support the country after IS-linked insurgents attacked the coastal town of Palma, displacing tens of thousands of people and stalling a $60 billion natural gas project.
The gas project by French oil major Total is meant to transform the economy of one of Africa&#8217;s poorest countries.
The meeting was put off due to the unavailability of the Botswana and South African presidents, Masisi&#8217;s office said.
Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique form a division of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) that wants to decide how to help Mozambique&#8217;s northern Cabo Delgado province against Islamist militant attacks there.
Botswana is the current chair of the SADC division, which is tasked with promoting peace and security in the region.
Masisi went into self-quarantine on Tuesday after the detection of a case of COVID-19 among his staff, while South Africa&#8217;s Cyril Ramaphosa is giving testimony to an inquiry into corruption under his predecessor Jacob Zuma.
The insurgency broke out in Mozambique&#8217;s northeast in 2017 and the rebels have stepped up attacks in the past year.
A report by ratings agency S&amp;P Global said militant attacks in Mozambique&#8217;s Cabo Delgado province pose a &#8220;significant threat&#8221; to production facilities associated with one the biggest natural gas discoveries in the world. (Reporting by Brian Benza Editing by Promit Mukherjee and Mark Heinrich)
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&nbsp;

Southern African leaders postpone meeting on Mozambique insurgency

By Brian Benza
GABORONE, Botswana April 28 (Reuters) &#8211; Botswana&#8217;s state-owned Morupule Coal Mine (MCM) plans to boost production by over a third as the country seeks to cut its dependence on imported power, a company official said on Wednesday.
Many countries are seeking to cut the use of carbon-intensive coal to reduce climate-warming emissions.
But Botswana is anxious to use its estimated 212 billion tonnes of coal resources to curb its reliance on imported power, needed in large volumes for its diamond industry.
As part of the plan to boost output, MCM plans to develop an open cast coal mine and on Wednesday it awarded a 5-year contract to a joint venture between South Africa&#8217;s Basil Read Mining and citizen-owned company Bothakga Burrow, its spokeswoman Boineelo Seitshiro said.
The mine will boost MCM&#8217;s production by 35%, she said, but she did say by when.
Botswana has national power generation capacity of 720 megawatts (MW) but plans to double output in the next six years through solar and coal-fired power as it strives to wean itself off imports and aspires to export power.
MCM ran the country&#8217;s only operating coal mine until privately-owned Minergy commissioned a new mine in 2019 with an annual capacity of 1.2 million tonnes.
The state-owned firm produces 2.8 million tonnes annually from its underground operations, feeding two nearby state-owned power stations with some of the output being exported to South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
&#8220;The team will commence with site establishment and mobilisation in April 2021 and the project is envisaged to increase coal production capacity from the current 2.8 million tons to 3.8 million tons per annum,&#8221; she said.
The resource at the open cast mine has the potential to supply power station-grade coal for over 30 years. (Reporting by Brian Benza Editing by Promit Mukherjee and Barbara Lewis)
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Botswana’s state-owned coal miner aims to boost output by 35%

By Jack Graham
TORONTO, April 28 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) &#8211; Protecting and restoring nature can reduce the risk of armed conflict around the world, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said on Wednesday.
Over the last 30 years, countries have been more prone to conflict when natural resources like agricultural land and water become scarce or degraded, such as in areas where droughts are frequent, said a report released by the organisation, which brings together governments, green groups and scientists.
It comes as a coalition of countries pushes to conserve global biodiversity by protecting at least 30% of land and oceans by 2030, ahead of a key United Nations conference in Kunming, China, set to take place in October.
&#8220;This report provides added evidence on the multiple benefits that societies gain from conserving nature,&#8221; said Juha Siikamäki, IUCN&#8217;s chief economist.
&#8220;Not only would we be improving the condition of nature and natural resources, we would also improve the livelihoods and wellbeing of people dependent on those resources,&#8221; he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The report found that conflicts are less frequent within the boundaries of protected natural areas, which account for an estimated 15% of land but overlap with only 3% of the more than 85,000 conflicts analysed from the past three decades.
Protecting and managing those areas, such as natural parks and wildernesses, is seen as a key tool for countries to safeguard ecosystems and reduce climate-heating emissions.
Siikamäki explained that when natural resources become more scarce, it puts people who depend on those resources into competition and can fuel conflicts.
For example, the report said violence around fast-shrinking Lake Chad in central Africa &#8211; shared by Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad &#8211; had been made worse by growing demand for limited resources among herding, farming and fishing communities.
The conflicts studied in the research were concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as West and South Asia.
The report cited a separate finding from an earlier U.N. study that about 40% of civil wars between 1950 and 2010 were associated with natural resources.
&#8220;Conservation, sustainable and equitable management of nature plays an important role in preventing conflict and in rebuilding peace,&#8221; said Kristen Walker, chair of the IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy.
&#8220;For example, it supports livelihoods and wellbeing of indigenous and local communities in times of peace and helps reduce the risk of conflicts breaking out,&#8221; she said in a statement.
The report recommended conservation should continue even in war-torn regions to help mitigate and prevent conflict, making use of explicit protections for those working on nature, such as the Escazú treaty to protect environmental defenders in Latin America and the Caribbean. (Reporting by Jack Graham; editing by Megan Rowling. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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Protecting nature can lower risk of armed conflict, says conservation body

By Christian Akorlie
ACCRA, April 28 (Reuters) &#8211; Ghana&#8217;s military has launched a nationwide operation to clear illegal miners out of its water bodies, the West African country&#8217;s lands minister said in on Wednesday.
Two hundred soldiers were deployed on Wednesday morning to lakes, rivers and waterways in the country&#8217;s central and western regions to &#8220;remove all persons and logistics involved in mining&#8221;, a statement said.
Pollution from mining has contaminated water sources across the country with mercury and heavy metals, raising the costs of water treatment and limiting access to drinking water, according to Ghana&#8217;s water utility agency.
Ghana is one of Africa&#8217;s largest gold producers, with gold products accounting for just under half its export revenues. Several of the world&#8217;s top mining firms, including Newmont , Kinross, and Anglogold Ashanti, operate gold mines there.
But more than 35% of the country&#8217;s gold is unearthed by small-scale and informal miners, the majority of whom operate illegally, according to the finance ministry.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has made combating illegal mining one of his signature issues, repeatedly accusing miners of damaging the country&#8217;s water bodies and environment.
&#8220;Mining becomes a danger to the society when, after extracting the gold, diamond, or other stones and minerals, the land is left degraded and poisoned with toxic materials,&#8221; Akufo-Addo said in a speech earlier this month.
&#8220;The water bodies are turned into entities that can no longer support life, and plants and fish cannot survive in our rivers,&#8221; he said.
Akufo-Addo first vowed to end illegal mining in 2017, and ordered what became the largest joint military-police action against illegal miners in the country&#8217;s history.
His predecessor John Mahama created a military task force in 2013 that also used the army to conduct raids on small-scale mining operations. (Reporting by Christian Akorlie Writing by Cooper Inveen Editing by Nellie Peyton and Giles Elgood)
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Ghana sends in army to enforce mining ban near rivers and lakes

April 28 (Reuters) &#8211;
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&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211; This diary is filed daily. ** Indicates new events &#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28
** BERLIN &#8211; Finance ministers of Germany, France, Italy, Spain make statements on EU Recovery Fund &#8211; 0600 GMT. ** JOHANNESBURG &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s health minister Zweli Mkhize gives update to lawmakers on COVID-19 vaccination roll out in the continent&#8217;s worst hit country in terms of deaths and infections &#8211; 0700 GMT. ** GENEVA &#8211; United Nations calls meeting of Greece, Britain, Turkey and the two rival sides on ethnically partitioned Cyprus to establish whether there is common ground for resumption of peace talks &#8211; 0700 GMT. ** SEOUL &#8211; South Korean Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki holds news conference for foreign media to take questions &#8211; 0700 GMT. ** LISBON &#8211; Portugal&#8217;s Prime Minister Antonio Costa opens conference &#8216;Travel guide to a competitive economy&#8217;, along with Economy Minister Pedro Siza Vieira &#8211; 0900 GMT. ** LISBON &#8211; Portugal&#8217;s Economy minister speaks at online conference about &#8216;The expected effect of the inevitable end of moratoriums&#8217;, promoted by the Order of Economists &#8211; 1700 GMT. ** BRUSSELS &#8211; President of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski at NATO &#8211; 1115 GMT. ** BRUSSELS &#8211; The European Parliament debates a resolution on recent Chinese countersanctions on EU lawmakers and diplomats. A vote on the resolution is scheduled for the next day, 1145 GMT on April 29 &#8211; 1300 GMT. ** BUKHARA, Uzbekistan – Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived on an official visit to Uzbekistan. He will have talks with his Uzbek counterpart, Bakhodir Kurbanov, in Bukhara (final day). ** ERBIL – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will visit Erbil to meet with Iraqi Kurdistan region&#8217;s official (final day).
** SULTANATE, Oman – Iranian Foreign Ministry Mohammad Javad Zarif visits to Sultanate of Oman. Talks in the field of bilateral relations between the two countries of Iran and Oman. TBILISI – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis will pay an official visit to Georgia, he will meet Georgian counterpart (to April 29). MOSCOW &#8211; Mexico&#8217;s foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard will visit Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart. (final day) SAN FRANCISCO, United States &#8211; Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway, will be on a virtual visit to San Francisco. (final day) GENEVA &#8211; United Nations calls meeting of Greece, Britain, Turkey and the two rival sides on ethnically partitioned Cyprus to establish whether there is common ground for resumption of peace talks. (final day) BERLIN &#8211; German Chancellor Angela Merkel receives Chinese Premier Li Keqiang for virtual talks as part of the Sixth German-Chinese Government Consultations &#8211; 0700 GMT. MADRID &#8211; Spain&#8217;s economy minister Nadia Calvino chairs Advisory Council on Economy &#8211; 1000 GMT.
BRUSSELS, Belgium – The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will meet the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, at NATO HQ. Joint press point by the NATO Secretary General and the President – 1115 GMT.
MEXICO CITY &#8211; Mexico&#8217;s Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier and Mauricio Claver-Carone, President of the Inter-American Development Bank, are scheduled to speak at annual private equity event in Mexico. MOSCOW &#8211; Foreign minister of Russia Sergei Lavrov meets with foreign minister of Mexico Marcelo Ebrard in Moscow &#8211; 0900 GMT.
VIENNA – 16th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting Via videoconference.
PORT ARTHUR, Tasmania – 23rd anniversary of Port Arthur Massacre in Tasmania. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
THURSDAY, APRIL 29
** BRUSSELS &#8211; European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic speaks to press regarding better regulation in the EU &#8211; 0900 GMT. ** BERLIN &#8211; German Health Minister Jens Spahn and RKI President Lothar H. Wieler hold news conference in Berlin &#8211; 0930 GMT. ** GENEVA &#8211; WHO to host news conference with Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, and technical experts, who will provide update of the COVID-19 situation on the continent &#8211; 0800 GMT. MADRID &#8211; Spain&#8217;s economy minister Nadia Calvino takes part in the 2021 Artificial Intelligence Summit organized by Ametic &#8211; 0800 GMT. KAZAN, Russia – Prime ministers of EAEU, Cuba, Moldova, Uzbekistan to meet in Kazan (to April 30)
BRUSSELS &#8211; EU development ministers will meet in virtual format to hold an orientation debate on the future of the European financial architecture for development (EFAD).
LONDON – 10th wedding anniversary of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
FRIDAY, APRIL 30
** GENEVA &#8211; Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), to give news conference on the latest developments in the COVID-19 pandemic.
MADRID &#8211; Spain´s foreign affairs minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya holds a meeting with Mexican counterpart Marcelo Ebrard in Madrid &#8211; 1000 GMT.
BRUSSELS &#8211; EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis speaks at BusinessEurope event about the planned EU-Mercosur free trade agreement &#8211; 1300 GMT.
CHAD &#8211; Chad President election. BENIN &#8211; Benin President election.
DJIBOUTI &#8211; President election.
BRUSSELS &#8211; European Commissioner for economy Paolo Gentiloni speaks at an online event on the macroeconomic environment one year after the COVID-19 pandemic hit Europe &#8211; 1300 GMT.
&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
SUNDAY, MAY 2 ** LOS ANGELES, CA &#8211; U.S. President Joe Biden, Prince Harry and Meghan, join other celebrities for &#8220;Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World.&#8221;
&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
MONDAY, MAY 3
** LONDON &#8211; G7 foreign ministers convene in London for the first face-to-face meeting in two years (to May 5). ** WARSAW &#8211; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, President of Latvia Egils Levits, President of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid and President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda, attend ceremonies marking the Constitution Day in Poland.
&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
TUESDAY, MAY 4
MOSCOW &#8211; Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will hold negotiations with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki in Moscow.
SINGAPORE &#8211; Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will visit Singapore to meet Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
THURSDAY, MAY 6
BRUSSELS &#8211; European Union ministers of foreign affairs meet to discuss current affairs and exchange views on the Strategic Compass, a strategy for Europe&#8217;s security and defence. BRUSSELS – EU Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) meeting.
SCOTLAND (PART OF THE UNITED KINGDOM)- Scottish Parliament election. WALES &#8211; National Assembly for Wales Election.
&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
FRIDAY, MAY 7
WASHINGTON DC – U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will meet virtually with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to discuss migration. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; SATURDAY, MAY 08 PORTUGAL – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Portugal for the India-EU summit.
PORTO, Portugal – EU-India summit. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
MONDAY, MAY 10
ATHENS &#8211; Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, EU&#8217;s Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni and EU&#8217;s Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides speaks at six-day economic forum in Athens (to May 15). BRUSSELS – EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
TUESDAY, MAY 11
BRUSSELS &#8211; EU General Affairs Council meeting. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; WEDNESDAY, MAY 12
BRUSSELS &#8211; European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis gives a press conference on the bloc&#8217;s new anti money-laundering legislative package.
DUBLIN &#8211; EU Financial Services Commissioner McGuiness speaks at green economy conference &#8211; 0900 GMT
&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
MONDAY, MAY 17 BRUSSELS &#8211; Euro zone finance ministers meet &#8211; 1300 GMT
WELLINGTON &#8211; Trade ministers of Asia-Pacific countries meet ahead of the APEC Summit in New Zealand (to May 30)
BRUSSELS &#8211; EU Informal General Affairs Council meeting.
BRUSSELS – Eurogroup meeting. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; TUESDAY, MAY 18
LUCERNE, Switzerland &#8211; World Economic Forum holds annual meeting (to May. 21).
BRUSSELS – EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
THURSDAY, MAY 20
VIENNA &#8211; IMF&#8217;s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, ECB&#8217;s Christine Lagarde address conference on Gender, Money and Finance. (To May 21)
BRUSSELS – EU Foreign Affairs Council (Trade) meeting. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; FRIDAY, MAY 21 ROME &#8211; Italy hosts G20 summit on global health crisis.
PORTUGAL – EU Informal meeting of economic and financial affairs ministers, (To May 22). &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
SATURDAY, MAY 22
PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES &#8211; Palestinians hold legislative elections &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
SUNDAY, MAY 23
CYPRUS &#8211; Cypriot House of Representatives election. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; TUESDAY, MAY 25
BRUSSELS – EU Foreign Affairs Council (Development) meeting. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
WEDNESDAY, MAY 26
CAYMAN ISLANDS &#8211; Cayman Legislative Assembly election. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
THURSDAY, MAY 27
BRUSSELS – EU Informal meeting of foreign affairs ministers – Gymnich
&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
FRIDAY, MAY 28
BRUSSELS – EU Informal meeting of defense ministers.
&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
TUESDAY, JUNE 1
VALPARAISO, Chile &#8211; Chile&#8217;s President Sebastian Pinera delivers the annual state of the nation address. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
SATURDAY, JUNE 5
GAMBIA, THE – Referendum Election. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
SUNDAY, JUNE 6
MEXICO &#8211; Mexican Chamber of Deputies election.
IRAQ &#8211; Iraqi Council of Representatives election. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
MONDAY, JUNE 7
BRUSSELS – EU Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting. (To June 8) &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9
MONGOLIA – President Election.
&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
THURSDAY, JUNE 10
DUSHANBE &#8211; President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev will visit Tajikistan. (To June 12)
&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
FRIDAY, JUNE 11 CORNWALL, England &#8211; U.S. President Joe Biden will visit UK to attend the G7 summit in Cornwall, England (To June 13)
&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
MONDAY, JUNE 14
** BRUSSELS &#8211; NATO leaders meet in Brussels to discuss substantive and forward-looking NATO 2030 agenda: Russia’s actions, the threat of terrorism, cyber attacks, emerging and disruptive technologies, the security impact of climate change, and the rise of China.
BRUSSELS &#8211; U.S. President Joe Biden will visit to Brussels to take part in NATO summit in BRUSSELS, Belgium.
&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
FRIDAY, JUNE 18
IRAN, Islamic Republic of Iran – President Election.
&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
FRIDAY, JUNE 25 ** Aruba – Aruban Legislature election.
&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
MONDAY, JUNE 28
MATERA, ITALY &#8211; G20 foreign ministers meet in the southern Italian city of Matera for a 3-day summit (to Jun. 30).
&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; NOTE: The inclusion of diary items does not necessarily mean that Reuters will file a story based on the event.
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Ghana sends in army to enforce mining ban near rivers and lakes

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RPT-South Africa a surprise safe haven in emerging market maelstrom

Global EV sales accelerating, but government help needed – IEA

Moderna boosting COVID-19 vaccine-making capacity, targets up to 3 billion shots in 2022

Canada risks missing annual refugee resettlement target after slow start

South Africa a surprise safe haven in emerging market maelstrom

Southern African leaders postpone meeting on Mozambique insurgency

Botswana’s state-owned coal miner aims to boost output by 35%

Protecting nature can lower risk of armed conflict, says conservation body

Ghana sends in army to enforce mining ban near rivers and lakes

DIARY-Political and General News Events from April 28

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