IMF rules out augmentation of Egypt’s $8 billion loan program

Source: Middle East Online [UK]

“International Monetary Fund is not currently discussing an augmentation of Egypt’s two-year-old, $8 billion IMF loan program despite a severe impact from the Middle East war on the country’s economy, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Wednesday. … Speaking to reporters, Georgieva made it clear that the existing Extended Fund Facility arrangement, approved in late 2024, remains unchanged and that no talks are taking place to expand its size or scope. … The announcement comes as Egypt grapples with significant economic challenges triggered by the Iran-Gulf war that erupted on February 28. The conflict has disrupted regional energy markets, raised global oil prices, and created uncertainty in maritime trade routes, all of which have strained Egypt’s key revenue sources — particularly Suez Canal receipts and tourism.” (04/16/26)

https://middle-east-online.com/en/imf-rules-out-augmentation-egypt%E2%80%99s-8-billion-loan-program

“Men of Narrow Hearts and Little Minds in High Places”

Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison

“It is a fitting description of so many of the political leaders we have had in the last twenty-five years. It is no accident that this has been an era defined by almost constant warfare. War is the ‘solution’ favored by the cruel and stupid. Our men of narrow hearts and little minds in high places resort to the same failed policies year after year, and they produce the same miserable results every time. They hallucinate or fabricate threats, overreact to the imaginary threats, and then needlessly kill a lot of people to ‘solve’ a problem that never existed.” (04/16/26)

https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/men-of-narrow-hearts-and-little-minds

Trump and Vance versus Pope Leo on War and Peace

Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger

President Trump’s and Vice-President Vance’s criticisms of Pope Leo on matters of war and peace bring to mind important points that others have historically made about America’s current system of militarism, imperialism, warmongering, and the destruction of the liberty and well-being of the American people at the hands of their own government.” (04/16/26)

https://www.fff.org/2026/04/16/trump-and-vance-versus-pope-leo-on-war-and-peace/

“The Rich Don’t Pay Their Fair Share” and Four Other Tax Myths That Won’t Die

Source: Reason
by Veronique de Rugy

“Every April, Americans spend more than 7 billion hours filing taxes and roughly the same amount of time arguing over them, almost entirely on the basis of several common myths. Here are the five most consequential.” (04/16/26)

https://reason.com/2026/04/16/the-rich-dont-pay-their-fair-share-and-4-other-tax-myths-that-wont-die/

US regime confesses to three more maritime murders in Pacific

Source: Seattle Times

“U.S. military forces struck a vessel Wednesday in the eastern Pacific Ocean, [murdering] three men the Pentagon says were trafficking drugs. No U.S. personnel were harmed, the U.S. Southern Command said in a social media post. Several such strikes have been announced in recent days as the Trump administration continues its aggressive anti-cartel actions in international waters. At least 178 people have been [murdered] in the strikes since the effort began in early September, months before the U.S. raid in January that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.” (04/16/26)

https://archive.is/l98dR