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Moscow is set to deploy new weapons as Russia and the US officially pull out of the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty on Friday, analysts say, raising the spectre of another arms race. Washington and Moscow have long accused each o…
August 1, 2019Read More
(Bloomberg) — Want to receive this post in your inbox every day? Sign up for the Balance of Power newsletter, and follow Bloomberg Politics on Twitter and Facebook for more.Buenos Aires was a boomtown in the 1880s, as Argentina’s abundant natural resources helped fund opulent mansions, Parisian boulevards and Utopian plazas.Boom turned to monumental bust in an 1890 crisis studied by economic historians as the biggest sovereign-debt meltdown of the century.That cycle of misery lies at the root of the country’s economic and political upheaval to the present day, and as Patrick Gillespie reports, is set to dominate this year’s presidential elections. Primaries are set for Aug. 11.President Mauricio Macri is investors’ clear favorite, despite inflation running at about 40% and the economy still in recession after a record $56 billion International Monetary Fund bailout.They fear his main opponent, Alberto Fernandez, isn’t the moderate he claims to be, a concern magnified by his choice of running mate: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the former president. She is blamed by her opponents for alienating Argentina internationally by driving the economy into the ground, tampering with official statistics and refusing to pay debt holders — leaving Macri to pick up the pieces.But that’s not necessarily how voters see it: Polls show the race is wide open.Even for Argentines used to roller-coaster politics, this election looks decidedly bumpy.Global HeadlinesBiden bites back | Eager not to falter again, Joe Biden abandoned his pledge never to speak ill of a fellow Democrat, fiercely battling charges in the second debate that he’s a relic of the past. The front-runner had clearly studied his rivals’ weaknesses and didn’t hesitate to counter-punch against challengers including Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Julian Castro.Click here for seven key takeaways from the debate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell showed a rare flash of defensiveness this week after refusing to consider election-security legislation. Read more about the candidates’ split over how to battle climate change in the latest edition of Bloomberg’s Campaign Update. Brexit splash | Prime Minister Boris Johnson keeps saying he’s serious about getting the U.K. ready to quit the European Union without a deal, and he’s followed his words with actions by doubling the spending to prepare for such an eventuality. The pound keeps dropping, and the corporate world is not happy with manufacturing stuck in its worst slump in six years.Adversaries meet | China’s accusations of U.S. interference in Hong Kong’s unrest didn’t stop Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi from meeting in Bangkok today. Their tete-a-tete was expected to be chilly after Wang publicly rebuked the U.S. during a sitdown last year, but China’s readout was low-key and focused on North Korea. It came as trade negotiations in Shanghai yielded incremental signs of progress.Slap on the wrist | U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration imposed largely symbolic sanctions against Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. They block access to his property in the U.S. — he said in a tweet he has none — but don’t prevent him from traveling to the United Nations in New York. It’s a provocative move that diminishes the prospects for a diplomatic solution to rising tensions that have brought the U.S. and Tehran to the brink of war. Not enough? | The Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the first time since the economic crisis but, with stocks high, unemployment near the lowest point in half a century and consumer spending strong, the central bank resisted pressure from Trump to turbocharge the longest U.S. expansion in history. The president, whose trade war with China is seen as a threat to the global economy, lambasted Fed chief Jerome Powell, saying he “let us down.”Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will confront the new realities of Brexit and the increasing likelihood of a no-deal departure from the EU in the central bank’s interest-rate decision today.What to WatchAs the Taliban escalates attacks in Afghanistan for leverage in peace talks with the U.S., the nation’s army remains seriously shorthanded, according to a report. The challenges won’t disappear if the U.S. strikes a peace accord so its forces can withdraw. Rwanda closed its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in a bid to stop the spread of an Ebola outbreak that the World Health Organization has declared the second-deadliest in history.And finally … Trump is finally getting his way with a wall, only it’s not along the U.S. southern border but in southern Africa. The U.S. is putting up $475,000 to help restore the stone walls at Great Zimbabwe, a fortress that dates to the 11th century and gave the country its name. Much of the funding will go toward keeping out an unwanted intruder from the West Indies known as the lantana camara weed that’s threatening the structure. \–With assistance from Kathleen Hunter, Sheryl Tian Tong Lee, Caroline Alexander and Flavia Krause-Jackson.To contact the author of this story: Alan Crawford in Berlin at [email protected] contact the editor responsible for this story: Karl Maier at [email protected] more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
August 1, 2019Read More
In June 2017, Saudi Arabia turned the Gulf against Qatar, cutting it off, and accusing its leadership of backing Iran and terrorists.
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Washington has sought to play down North Korea’s latest missile tests, with John Bolton, the US national security adviser, stressing that Wednesday’s launch did not violate Pyongyang’s moratorium on longer-range weapons. “The firing of these missiles don’t violate the pledge that Kim Jong Un made to the president about intercontinental-range ballistic missiles,” Mr Bolton told the Fox Business Network. “But you have to ask when the real diplomacy is going to begin, when the working-level discussions on denuclearization will begin, as Kim Jong Un again said on June 30 he was prepared to do. We’re still waiting to hear from North Korea.” The comments of Mr Bolton, historically hawkish on North Korea, echo the more diplomatic tone adopted by Donald Trump, US president, after a similar missile test last week. The launches come just weeks after Mr Trump met Kim on the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea to try to kickstart stalled talks over the dismantlement of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missiles programme. With the presidential election looming, Mr Trump’s tolerant approach to the leader he once denounced as “little rocket man” indicates he is clinging to the hope of a foreign policy win he believes is within grasp. Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump last met on the North and South Korean border in June Credit: Susan Walsh/AP North Korea, however, is showing increasing signs of impatience over the lack of progress with the US, in particular over the failure to ease harsh economic sanctions. State media on Thursday confirmed the test firing of a “new-type large-caliber multiple launch guided rocket system.” It said the system would play a major role in ground military operations and quoted Kim as predicting “it would be an inescapable distress to the forces becoming a fat target of the weapon.” The recent test firings have been an attempt to build pressure on South Korea to back out of a joint military exercise this month with the US, which Pyongyang has denounced as a “rehearsal for war.” However, the US has confirmed that there has been “no adjustment” to plans for the ‘Dong Maeng’ drill. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service briefed parliamentarians in Seoul on Thursday that North Korea could conduct additional missile launches over the next few weeks. A woman in Seoul watches Kim Jong-un overseeing the launch of a new weapon Credit: Jung Yeon-je/AFP In a separate development that is bound to raise Pyongyang’s ire, the NIS reported that Jo Song-gil, the former North Korean envoy to Rome, who disappeared from the embassy last November in an apparent defection bid, has left Italy and is now under protection in a secret location. “(The NIS) did not say that the Korean government is protecting him. Given the mention of ‘somewhere,’ it appears to be a third country,” said Lee Eun-jae, a Liberty Korea Party politician said, reported Yonhap. The news follows the overnight escape of a North Korean soldier over the Imjin River into the South. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed that the man was an “active-duty soldier, and he expressed his desire to defect to the South.”
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The U.S. Treasury Department announced it’s imposing sanctions on Iran’s foreign minister. NPR’s Steve Inskeep discusses the move with Dennis Ross, a former special assistant to President Obama.
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We look back at the big moments from Wednesday’s Democratic debate. Also, we look at why the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been so difficult to contain.
August 1, 2019Read More
The jury in the trial of two men charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter in an Oakland, Calif., warehouse fire is beginning deliberations.
August 1, 2019Read More
Many parents view the video game Fortnite as a waste of their kids’ time. But it recently made one lucky teenager a millionaire.
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There is mounting criticism over the appointment of a new acting head of the federal Bureau of Land Management, which manages nearly 250 million acres of public land.
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The candidates in the second night of Democratic presidential debates took turns attacking front-runner Joe Biden’s record Wednesday.
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President Trump is expected to accelerate the building of his border wall. In Starr County, Texas, they’re about to build the longest stretch of new wall under Trump.
August 1, 2019Read More
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