May 2023: Honorable Mentions
A quickfire version of the latest International headlines for May 2023.
Good Morning, Afternoon, and Evening wherever you are,
Here are a some honorable mention of headlines that won’t make it in this month’s round up but deserves a mention.
First Republic Bank becomes the third major bank to collapse this year. This comes a month prior when the bank received financial support from the US Treasury Department and JP Morgan. The reason for the bank failure is similar to Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank where the bank suffered a run of deposits. The collapse of First Republic Bank is the second largest bank failure in US History. On May 1st, 2023, US regulators seized the bank and sold most of it’s assets to the much bigger American bank JP Morgan. JPMorgan has told former First Republic Bank customers that they are insured and their assets are safe with them. However, worries of another banking crisis just like 2008, have sparked fear for many.
Thailand’s election saw landslide victory for it’s opposition up against the incumbent government which is aligned and backed by the country’s military. As of May 16th, the Move Forward party, led by Pita Limjaroenrat, is predicted to win 151 out of the 500 seats in the lower house. The Move Forward Party along with the Pheu Thai party are seen as being against the military rule of Thailand and vow to reform the countries institutions after a decade of their rule. The success of the parties especially, Move Forward party, have came with the help of young voters who have been the forefront of the 2020 student protests, but also with the use of social media to spread the party’s message. Both parties have agreed to join a coalition government with four other parties. While the election of the anti-military parties is a groundbreaking shift, there will be a challenge for these parties when it comes to Thailand’s upper house, the senate, which is unelected an appointed by the current prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, is allowed to join in the vote for the new government along with the parliament and are against many of the progressive policies the Move Forward party wants to implement. There is also fear over the military blocking efforts of the formation of a new government. Pita Limjaroenrat, who is seen as the next prime minister of the country, is also seen as inexperienced in terms of negotiating a coalition government.
There was also an election in Greece as well, with the conservative New Democracy Party earned a huge victory, but it’s leader and the current Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis plans to call for another election next month after falling short of a majority. Mitsotakis’s party won 146 seats, 5 short for the majority that is needed to govern. While his main opponent the Mitsotakis’s predecessor as Prime Minister, Alexis Tsiparas and his left-wing, Syriza party underperformed expectations with his party holding on to 71 seats down from the 86 seats that they had prior to the last election. Gains were made by other Greek parties as well such as PASOK, The Communist Party, and the Greek Solution party. However, Mitotakis has said he would not try to form a coalition government because he believes “there is no condition for the formation of a government in the current parliement.” preferring to call another election for June. In the meantime, an Interim Prime Minister has taken his place.
US President, Joe Biden, canceled trips to Australia and Papua New Guinea over showdown with Republican leaders around the negotiations over the debt ceiling. The visit to these countries was seen by many as the Biden’s administrations efforts to fight off the growing influence of its rival, China in the Pacific region. The Quad meeting between the US, India, Japan, and Australia that was supposed to happen in Sydney, was also canceled.
Some had seen these cancelations as being a gift to China, however, the Australian ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, dismissed these claims saying that the relationship between both Australia and the US is strong and that the meeting between the four leaders will happen but in Japan [where this year’s G7 summit is being held] rather than Australia. However, there was disappointment over the cancelation of Biden’s visit to Papua New Guinea, after six months of preparations. Biden was expected to be in the country for three hours after the G7 summit.
South Africa has been accused by the US ambassador to the country for selling weapons to Russia. This is based on evidence over the Russian cargo vessel, the Lady R, made a stop to the South African naval base. According to the ambassador, Reuben Brigety, U.S. intelligence showed that weapons and ammunition were boarded onto the ship. However the South African government have denied the claims and South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, says there will be an investigation into the allegations. The ambassador was also summoned by the country’s foreign minister. Since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, South Africa has stated that it’s position regarding the war is neutral and that it seeks for a resolution to end the war immediately. However, there have been doubts on South Africa’s neutrality as back in February, it participated in military exercises with Russia and China which were condemned by the US and Ukraine.
Notes for Honorable Mentions
https://www.investopedia.com/what-happened-to-first-republic-bank-7489214
https://www.firstrepublic.com/resource/message-to-our-clients-chase
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/business/bank-failures-svb-first-republic-signature.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65567781
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65666261
https://www.npr.org/2023/05/18/1176806747/biden-cancels-australia-trip-quad-meeting