Crypto News: A chance to meddle

Some big emerging markets are flashing warning signs, fed by heightened political risk and a strong undercurrent of economic turmoil.

With the US, China and Russia all seeking to build blocs in an increasingly multipolar world, it's worth watching how they respond.

Key reading:

Having largely ignored Africa for decades, for example, the US is now trying to show greater engagement. That includes shoring up support for efforts to isolate Russia for its war in Ukraine, and preventing Vladimir Putin from gaining an even bigger toehold on the continent.

Washington is also keen to counter China, which can and does act as a lender of last resort from Africa to Asia and Latin America. And right now plenty of countries need money, even if they are wary of tying themselves into deals with Beijing that always come with a political catch.

Pakistan is still trying to avoid a default as its foreign-exchange reserves dwindle. Meanwhile, opposition leader Imran Khan is dodging efforts to arrest him ahead of elections this year.

Sri Lanka is still trying to get a multi-billion dollar International Monetary Fund bailout, with the government fragile after last year's revolving door of leadership changes.

Argentina, too, is wrangling with the IMF on its net reserves target, as it faces an election in October amid squabbles in the ruling coalition, near 100% inflation and a severe drought.

In Nigeria, the outcome of the February elections is being contested even as Africa's most populous nation grapples with an acute cash shortage caused by a (now-halted) move to withdraw old high-denomination banknotes from circulation.

The continent's most industrialized nation, South Africa, is meanwhile grappling with severe daily power outages and crumbling infrastructure.

Over in Turkey, the economy has taken a hit from devastating earthquakes. Rather than mobilizing to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the opposition has been arguing with itself, raising the odds of Erdogan and his unorthodox economic policies gaining another term as soon as May.

With instability hitting so many countries at once, a cynic might argue the opportunities to meddle abound.

For powers seeking to pull governments into their orbit, a combination of economic and political weakness could be fertile territory. The question is which of them gets there first. —Rosalind Mathieson

People wait outside a bank due to a scarcity of cash in Lagos, Nigeria, on Feb. 22. Photographer: Patrick Meinhardt/AFP/Getty Images

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Tough sell | China's two-year crackdown on private enterprise began with the silencing of billionaire Jack Ma and broad restrictions on real estate, then spread to sectors from games to online education. President Xi Jinping is now trying to convince entrepreneurs they can safely return to rebuild China's economy but, as Jane Zhang and Sarah Zheng report, the recent disappearance of the tech industry's star banker makes that a hard sell.

China will take forceful measures to support the development of high-end manufacturing, Xi told the National People's Congress.
China plans to create a central agency to manage the flow of data within the country and abroad, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.
China seeks "peaceful reunification" with Taiwan, according to an annual report to the NPC which largely kept to previous wording, suggesting no change in policy on the self-ruled island.

'Bloody Sunday' | US President Joe Biden spoke in Selma, Alabama, yesterday for the 58th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," when White state troopers attacked voting-rights demonstrators. His address at the hallowed site for the 1960s civil-rights movement comes as he seeks to strengthen ties with Black voters ahead of an expected 2024 reelection bid.

London's investment appeal in a post-Brexit world is rapidly deteriorating. After a tumultuous year in which it lost the top spot among Europe's stock markets, a slate of companies are ditching local listings in favor of the US. Until 2013, the UK had the biggest stock market as a value of GDP in dollar terms compared with the US, Canada, France and Japan. Now it has the smallest.

'Groundbreaking' deal | Japan and South Korea are getting closer to ending a feud that has for years disrupted trade and security ties, centered on people who were forced to work for Japanese companies during the country's colonization of the Korean Peninsula. Biden praised the move as he seeks to convince the US allies to work together in his efforts to counter China.

Unity test | A rift between Germany and Poland over missiles, tanks and spare parts risks undermining efforts to supply Ukraine's forces against Russia's invasion. Polish leaders are losing no opportunity to take aim at Berlin, even as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy calls on allies to "hurry up" in delivering armaments before any spring offensive gets underway.

Russia looks to be successfully working around European Union and Group of Seven sanctions to secure crucial semiconductors and other technologies, sources tell Alberto Nardelli.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas scored a commanding election victory against a far-right party that had targeted her support for Ukraine.
Follow our rolling coverage of the war in Ukraine here.

An aerial view of fighting in the city of Bakhmut on Feb. 27. Source: AFP

Main challenger | Turkey's main opposition, seeking to curtail internal bickering, is expected today to announce its candidate to stand against Erdogan in the coming election. The most likely pick is Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who leads the alliance of six groups including his Republican People's Party.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner said he plans to introduce a bill this week to allow the US to systematically ban Chinese technology, including services like TikTok.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said talks were constructive with the EU in attempting to resolve a dispute over plans to ban new combustion-engine cars in the bloc from 2035, after Berlin derailed the effort this past week.
Spain's government will seek to pass a gender parity law making it mandatory for corporate boards to be composed of at least 40% women, while a similar quota will be imposed on the Cabinet.
At least five people were killed in fighting between Azerbaijani troops and ethnic Armenian law enforcement officers in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the deadliest skirmish there in more than six months.

Thanks to the 27 people who responded to our quiz question and congratulations to Gaby Sivzattian, who was the first to name Tunisia as the country whose leader was accused of stoking xenophobia against Black Africans to deflect from a political and economic crisis.

And finally ... Some of the tiniest life forms are aboard the International Space Station on a mission to feed people on a warming planet. Seeds of sorghum and cress launched into orbit by the International Atomic Energy Agency are tethered to the capsule via a thin metal box. As Jonathan Tirone reports, that's exposing them to more intense solar radiation in a trial to induce genetic mutations so they can survive hotter temperatures, drier soils, spreading pestilence and rising sea levels.