April 23, 2024 - Daily News Digest

On this day: in 1961, Algiers putsch by French generals. Four retired French generals attempted to force de Gaulle’s hand and re-assert French control over Algeria in the midst of secret negotiations between Paris and Algeria’s revolutionary National Liberation Front (FLN).

QOTD: ““I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be (Their naval ships are ALL, 159 of them, at the bottom of the sea!), that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said in a social media post on Thursday. “There is to be no hesitation.”

EU/RUSSIA/UKRAINE - EU formally approves Ukraine loan and 20th sanctions package against Russia
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-formally-approves-ukraine-loan-20th-sanctions-package-against-russia-2026-04-23/

The European Union formally approved on Thursday a 90-billion-euro ($105-billion) loan to Ukraine and new sanctions ‌against Russia, ahead of an informal summit of the bloc's leaders in Cyprus which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will attend.

The loan is set to cover two-thirds of Ukraine's needs for the next two years. Economists had said Ukraine would start to run out of money by June if the ​EU loan was not disbursed by then, requiring deep cuts to public services.

"We are on our way to Cyprus ​with good news," European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said.

"While Russia doubles down on its ⁠aggression, we are doubling down on our support to the brave Ukrainian nation enabling Ukraine to defend itself and putting ​pressure on Russia’s war economy."

THROWING UKRAINE A LIFELINE

EU ambassadors had already approved the loan and the sanctions package on Wednesday after Hungary ​lifted its veto, paving the way for Thursday's formal approval.

"This package will strengthen our army, make Ukraine more resilient, and enable us to fulfill our social obligations to Ukrainians, as set out in law," Zelenskiy said on X as he arrived in Cyprus, where he will have dinner ​with the EU leaders.

UK/FRANCE/SEC - UK, France agree 3‑year deal to curb Channel crossings
https://www.dw.com/en/uk-france-agree-3year-deal-to-curb-channel-crossings/a-76903367

he United Kingdom and France have agreed on a new three-year deal to curb undocumented migrant crossings in the English Channel.

Under the agreement, France will step up patrols along its coast, increasing the number of officers by more than 50% to 1,400 by 2029, while the UK will provide up to €766 million ($897 million) in funding.

Almost a quarter of the money will be paid only if the measures prove effective.

The UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez were expected to sign the three-year agreement in France on Thursday.

What will the UK-France new border security deal cover?

·      The deployment of law enforcement, intelligence and military personnel on beaches ​in northern ‌France

·      A new 50-strong riot police unit, expanded intelligence and judicial teams, and extra maritime patrols

·      Enhanced surveillance, including drones, two helicopters and upgraded camera systems

·      A new vessel and more than 20 additional maritime officers to intercept boats at sea

CHINA/CAMBODIA - China’s foreign and defense ministers meet with Cambodian counterparts in joint ‘2+2' dialogue
https://apnews.com/article/cambodia-china-wang-yi-dong-jun-4c6a42c61df7eb6ba972b27149b4b2cf

Cambodia and China on Wednesday held their first meeting of what is called a “2+2” Strategic Dialogue Mechanism, bringing together both countries’ foreign and defense ministers to deepen mutual political and security ties.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Defense Minister Dong Jun are visiting Cambodia to hold talks with their counterparts, Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn and Defense Minister Tea Seiha.

These talks are an initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his state visit in April last year, aimed at boosting relations and the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two nations. China has worked to increase its sphere of influence in Southeast Asia, and initiated the ministerial-level “2+2” dialogue format with Indonesia last year.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday that Wang Yi will also visit Thailand and Myanmar following his stop in Cambodia.

PANAMA/SHIPPING - Panama Canal says $1 million-plus auction slots reflect temporary surge in demand
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/panama-canal-says-1-million-plus-auction-slots-reflect-temporary-surge-demand-2026-04-23/

The Panama Canal Authority said on Thursday that some ships had recently paid more than $1 million for crossing slots at auction, but ​said the unusually high prices reflected a temporary rise in demand ‌rather than persistent congestion at the waterway.

The authority said average auction prices had risen to about $385,000 after the start of the Middle East conflict, from around $135,000 to $140,000 before, as higher traffic boosted demand ​for reservations.

Last week, the authority had downplayed reports that an LPG vessel had ​paid as much as $4 million in an auction to secure faster passage.

Victor ⁠Vial, the canal's vice president of finance, said in a statement that some ​vessels had indeed paid more than $1 million in recent auctions, but described those results ​as exceptional and tied to a short-term rise in demand.

He added that most ships book their transits in advance, helping avoid queues.

The canal offers several booking mechanisms, including long-term slot allocations and ​a dedicated system for liquefied natural gas vessels. For ships that do not reserve ​ahead of time, it also offers last-minute reservations and auctions, with between three and five slots ‌currently ⁠offered each day through the auction system.

RUSSIA/KAZAKHSTAN/GERMANY/ENERGY - Russia to block Kazakh oil flows to Germany via key pipeline
https://www.dw.com/en/russia-kazakhstan-oil-pipeline-energy-crisis-strait-of-hormuz-germany-berlin/a-76895743

Russia plans to stop oil exports from Kazakhstan to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline from May 1, threatening a key refinery which supplies the vast majority of diesel, petrol and heating oil needed for the city of Berlin.

The PCK refinery, located in the town of Schwedt about 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Berlin, receives oil supplies via the pipeline. Previously run by Russian oil major Rosneft, the German government seized the refinery's operations following Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Since 2022, the refinery has imported Kazakh crude oil in increasing volumes, which is transported from the Central Asian nation, across Russian territory, to Berlin.

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy confirmed the news to DW in a statement.

"Rosneft Germany has informed the Federal Network Agency, acting as trustee, that, following instructions from the Russian Ministry of Energy, the transit of Kazakh crude oil through the Druzhba pipeline across Russian territory to the PCK refinery is prohibited as of May 1, 2026," the ministry said.

"The Russian Federation has not yet confirmed this to the German government. Rosneft Germany is currently assessing the implications and will adapt to any changes in the situation," it added.

Reuters first reported the news on Tuesday, April 21, quoting multiple industry sources.

US/CANADA/TRADE - U.S. Tariff Relief on Autos, Metals Must Be Part of Trade Pact, Canada Minister Says
https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/u-s-tariff-relief-on-autos-metals-must-be-part-of-trade-pact-canada-minister-says-da9c5fd9?mod=world_feat3_americas_pos1

The Trump administration must provide relief on hefty sectoral tariffs affecting automobiles, steel and aluminum as part of any deal with Canada on extending the current North American trade pact, says the minister in charge of U.S.-Canada trade.

Dominic LeBlanc added Canadian officials won’t heed to a never-ending series of U.S. demands just so talks on the renewal of the existing U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade treaty, or USMCA, can shift into a higher gear.

His remarks to attendees at a Toronto conference emerge as concern escalates about the slow pace of talks between Ottawa and Washington regarding USMCA, which faces a formal, U.S.-led review this summer. Talks between the U.S. and Mexico are at an advanced stage. U.S. officials, such as Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, describe discussions with Canada as challenging, adding there are unresolved issues. Greer reiterated those concerns in testimony to Congress on Wednesday.

In Ottawa, Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters he would not allow Washington to dictate the terms of USMCA negotiations.

LeBlanc said any breakthrough is contingent on U.S. relief on sectoral tariffs of up to 50% on Canadian-made industrial goods. He said such a move could open the door for certain U.S. demands, such as provinces dropping their ban on U.S. wines and spirits in their government-run liquor stores. LeBlanc identified relief on sectoral tariffs as Canada’s most-important demand.

“We think…there’s an ability to put together a package that will very much be in the economic interest of both countries. And that might clear the deck of some of these bilateral issues that the Americans are raising with us,” LeBlanc told attendees at an event organized by The Globe and Mail newspaper.

U.S. and Canadian officials were in talks last fall about easing sectoral tariffs until President Trump terminated the negotiations following Canadian advertising that used audio from former president Ronald Reagan to criticize protectionist trade policy.

LeBlanc added that he’s not expecting the U.S. to eliminate the sectoral tariffs, which presently sit at 50% on foreign aluminum and steel, and 25% on cars. Trump has said the U.S. doesn’t need cars made in Canada. “I think we should be realistic,” LeBlanc said, while adding the White House has “shown some willingness to talk about” tariff relief.

US/SEC - US Labels State-Licensed Marijuana as Less Dangerous Drug
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-23/us-reclassifies-state-licensed-marijuana-as-less-dangerous-drug?srnd=phx-politics

The US Justice Department reclassified state-regulated marijuana as a less dangerous drug, a major shift that could dramatically increase legal cannabis sales in the coming years.

The directive signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche moved licensed marijuana products from Schedule I — the same federal category as heroin and LSD — to the less strictly controlled Schedule III. The action stops short of fully legalizing the drug for recreational use nationwide, but it meets the demands of many advocates who have long argued for looser restrictions.

Blanche’s order also set a hearing process to begin on June 29 for a broader reclassification of marijuana.

“The Department of Justice is delivering on President Trump’s promise to expand Americans’ access to medical treatment options,” Blanche said in a statement. “This rescheduling action allows for research on the safety and efficacy of this substance, ultimately providing patients with better care and doctors with more reliable information.”

The move is likely to bolster support for President Donald Trump from young men who backed his election in 2024, but whose support for the administration has softened amid the Iran war and high consumer prices. However, it’s also likely to rankle more traditional conservatives and might become a fracture for the Republican party in upcoming elections.

US/IRAN/MIL - Trump Orders Navy to Shoot Boats Placing Mines in Hormuz Strait
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-23/trump-orders-navy-to-shoot-boats-placing-mines-in-hormuz-strait-mobhilqu?srnd=phx-politics

President Donald Trump ordered the US Navy to shoot any boat putting mines in the Strait of Hormuz and vowed to step up efforts to clear the critical energy waterway amid a standoff with Iran.

“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be (Their naval ships are ALL, 159 of them, at the bottom of the sea!), that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said in a social media post on Thursday. “There is to be no hesitation.”

Trump’s comments come amid an extended ceasefire between the US and Iran that has left the strait largely shuttered. The US is maintaining a blockade on vessels going to and from Iranian ports, while Tehran is choking off the flow of international traffic.

Trump added that efforts to clear the strait of mines laid by Iran during the conflict would intensify.

“Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now,” he wrote. “I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

IRAN/SHIPPING - Iran shows off its control over strait after collapse of peace talks
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/iran-tightens-control-hormuz-after-us-calls-off-renewed-attacks-2026-04-23/

Iran flaunted its tightened grip over the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday with video of its commandos storming a huge cargo ship, after the collapse of peace talks that Washington had hoped would open ​the world's most important shipping corridor.

Iranian state television broadcast footage overnight of masked troops pulling up in a grey speedboat alongside the MSC Francesca, climbing a rope ladder to a shell door in the hull ‌and jumping through brandishing rifles.

The footage, presented with an action-movie-style soundtrack and no commentary, also included views of another ship, the Epaminondas. Iran said it had captured both on Wednesday, accusing them of trying to cross the strait without permits.

U.S. BOARDS ANOTHER TANKER

Washington, which has been confronting Iranian ships in international waters to enforce a blockade of its own, said it had boarded another tanker, the Majestic, in the Indian Ocean on Thursday, an apparent reference to a supertanker last reported off the coast of Sri Lanka carrying 2 million barrels of crude.

Iran, which has effectively blocked the strait to ​ships apart from its own since the United States and Israel launched the war in February, has been left in apparent control of the waterway since last-ditch peace talks were called off on Tuesday, hours before a two-week ceasefire expired.

US/IRAN/CHINA/ENERGY - Secretive Shipments of Iranian Oil to China Are Under Threat by U.S.
https://www.wsj.com/world/secretive-shipments-of-iranian-oil-to-china-are-under-threat-by-u-s-9fc678ea?mod=world_feat1_middle-east_pos1

Iran, China and an array of middlemen have evaded U.S. sanctions for years by shipping oil on aging tankers with opaque records and transferring cargoes between ships at sea, all to avoid scrutiny and legal liability.

U.S. forces boarded one such sanctioned tanker that has frequented China and Iran as it sailed on Tuesday through the Indian Ocean, roughly midway between Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

The interception of the stateless M/T Tifani, along with the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, is part of a forceful effort to thwart a secretive oil trade that has flourished for years and largely thrived after nearly two months of war.

“It’s like you’ve been driving the same road every day and you see one person in the HOV lane over and over and over, and finally you see one that gets pulled over,” said Raymond Powell, director of the SeaLight project at Stanford University which tracks Chinese maritime activity.

The Tifani is just one vessel in the so-called shadow fleet that sustains Iran and its oil trade with China, its No. 1 customer. There are more than 500 ships in the shadow fleet that serves Iran, according to United Against Nuclear Iran, or UANI, a U.S.-based advocacy group.

This elaborate evasion system includes a substantial amount of Iranian oil already at sea and far from the Middle East. If the U.S. continues to target this floating supply, it could cut into an important source of income for the Iranian regime. Without that financial cushion, Tehran would find it much harder to sustain the war and drag out talks to end it.

US/IRAN/IRAQ/SEC - U.S. Blocks Iraq’s Dollar Shipments to Squeeze Its Iran-Backed Militias
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/u-s-blocks-iraqs-dollar-shipments-to-squeeze-its-iran-backed-militias-3270d5af?mod=world_lead_pos4

The Trump administration has suspended U.S. dollar shipments to Iraq and frozen security cooperation programs with its military, escalating the pressure on Baghdad to dismantle powerful Iranian-backed militias, said Iraqi and U.S. officials.

A cargo-plane delivery of nearly $500 million in U.S. banknotes, the proceeds from Iraqi oil sales from Federal Reserve Bank of New York accounts, was blocked recently by Treasury Department officials because of U.S. concerns about the militias, some of the officials said.

It was the second scheduled shipment of dollars to the Central Bank of Iraq delayed by the U.S. since the start of the Iran war in late February, the U.S. and Iraqi officials said. It came after weeks of militia attacks on American facilities in Iraq and neighboring countries in a show of support for Tehran.

The U.S. has informed Baghdad that it was also suspending funding for some counterterrorism and armed-forces training programs until the militia attacks stop and Iraqi officials take steps to dismantle the armed groups, the U.S. and Iraqi officials said.

The moves highlight the pressure on Baghdad to align itself more closely with Washington and downgrade its close ties with Tehran since the beginning of the nearly eight-week U.S. and Israeli war against Iran.

In a statement Tuesday that didn’t allude to the suspended deliveries, the Central Bank of Iraq said it wasn’t short of U.S. currency. It had “fulfilled all requests from banks and exchange companies for U.S. dollars,” the bank said.

After the invasion of 2003, Washington agreed to hold Iraq’s earnings from oil sales—tens of billions a year—at the New York Fed. To circulate the proceeds back into Iraq, the Fed began shipping as much as $13 billion a year in cash to Baghdad to keep its heavily cash-based economy functioning.

The U.S. shut off the cash deliveries briefly in 2015 over concerns that dollars were being funneled to Islamic State militants and has threatened to suspend the shipments in the past. Though Baghdad has reduced its reliance on dollars, cargo planes still deliver pallets of U.S. currency to the Iraqi central bank, giving the U.S. leverage to try to force Baghdad to reckon with the militias.