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Description: The Chinese government has allegedly considered easing the recently imposed export controls of its rare earth minerals to Europe. China tightened the exports of rare earth minerals as a response to Trump’s tariffs in April on a global level, stating that countries would have to obtain special exports licenses in order to be eligible for favorable trade terms. Chinese media sources reported that the potential policy shift was discussed by China’s Ministry of Commerce and involved more than 40 Chinese and European semiconductor firms. The information follows a previous report that European companies have started to backtrack investments on the Chinese market and c
Description: Finance leaders from the 11-state member organization, ASEAN, alongside leaders from the 6 Gulf States comprising the Gulf Cooperation Council met in Malaysia as they launched the joint summit with China. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim underscored the importance of the summit in his opening remarks as he noted that countries from the Global South can no longer be marginalized on the global trade stage. China’s Premier Li Qiang was also attending the summit as he emphasized the importance of closer cooperation between ASEAN countries and GCC members and highlighted their impact on the global economy as stable and reliable partners. Kuwait’s Crown Prince,
Description: Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, arrived in Moscow on a two – day visit where he was received by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Fidan and Putin discussed the war in Ukraine and Turkey as the main facilitator of the negotiations as well as Russia’s support for ongoing energy talks between the Russian Gazprom and the Turkish Botas. Topics such as the development of the Akkuyu nuclear plant in Turkey were also touched upon as Fidan emphasized that Putin was well informed on the ongoing development efforts. Putin and Fidan also discussed the ongoing situation in Syria, as the transitionary government led by Ahmed Al Sharaa consolidates power on the back of
Description: Prime Ministers from the Nordic countries attended a summit hosted by Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo in the Finnish city of Turku. The leaders held discussions and raised issues such as the growing Russian influence and constant incursions in the Baltic Sea, as well as the recent troop amassment on the Russian – Finnish border. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store also emphasized the threat from the US in their intent to annex Greenland as he highlighted the island’s sovereignty and international restraints imposed by maritime and sea legislature. The Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in his remarks said that Scandinavian countries significantly i
Description: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz while attending the Nordic geopolitical summit announced his intent to supply long – range cruise and ballistic missiles to Ukraine. The initiative arrived after Russia battered Ukraine over the weekend by launching more than 350 drones and around 70 ballistic missiles, on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. Merz’s coalition partners from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) have stated that they wouldn’t support such initiative despite reassurances from the Chancellor, that approvals for the usage of long – range weapons have already been authorized in France and the UK. Merz in his statement also mentioned that the war could end by the econo
Description: Israel and Syria have continued direct negotiations aimed at dousing down the reignited tensions since the HTS government and Al Sharaa came to power earlier this year. Unofficial sources have confirmed that senior security official Ahmad al – Dalati was leading the Syrian security delegation while Israel was represented by two senior security officials which were unidentified. Negotiations were being held regarding Israel’s recent incursions in the Golan heights, and the bombing runs on the capital Damascus, caused by the interethnic violence in early Apr, where members of the Druze minority in Syria were indiscriminately targeted by HTS security forces. Syrian
Description: European ministers have largely endorsed and introduced the new SAFE (Security Action for Europe) defense loan package estimated at around $170 billion. The initiative was introduced as part of consistent US threats by President Donald Trump to pull American military forces out of Europe if the bloc didn’t raise its defense spending significantly. The European Commission used a fast – track procedure to pass the vote for SAFE and circumvent the European Parliament requiring the votes by the qualified majority of EU’s 27 member countries. Companies and countries eligible to participate in the SAFE initiative must originate from Europe or Ukraine or have a defense
Description: South Korea’s liberal presidential candidate Lee Jae – Myung was reported to hold a firm lead ahead of his conservative opponent Kim Moon – Soo which was close to 10 percent ahead of 03 Jun snap elections. Lee managed to garner the majority of support from voters representing the Democratic Party by pledging to bring everyone involved in the botched coup attempt, instigated by former President Yoon Suk Yeol, to justice, while also appeasing substantial deregulation and business friendly climate in South Korea. Kim failed to convince New Reform Party’s candidate Lee Jun – Seok who is considerably trailing behind the leading two, to abandon the presidential race a
Description: Following last week’s fifth round of nuclear negotiations the US and Iranian negotiating teams have once again obscured the positive and productive signals into revolving threats of retribution. US President Donald Trump stated that the last round of negotiations marked a noteworthy progress while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated the fifth round to have been the most professional round of negotiations so far. Trump besides positively signaling a non – violent outcome reiterated the military threats while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reinforced his country’s position by saying that Iran doesn’t singularly depend on the outcome of the negotiat
Description: After threatening to fast-track the imposition of tariffs on the European Union, US President Donald Trump reextended the deadline to the original date, 09 Jul, following a conversation with EU Commission’s President, Ursula von der Leyen. Last week, Trump threatened to impose additional 50% tariffs on EU goods coupled with the already imposed 25% on aluminum and steel and 10% of the so-called baseline tariffs. The US President’s extension was reportedly due to a productive and promising phone conversation with Von der Leyen after which both leaders agreed to fast-track negotiations being held between US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, trade representative Ja