Editor’s note: There will be no Daily Brief on Friday, July 7. |
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U.S. Treasury Secretary Arrives in Beijing Amid Supply Chain Tensions |
Janet Yellen's visit to China, the first by a U.S. treasury secretary in four years, comes amid an escalating trade war (Bloomberg) between the two countries. Yellen has said she seeks to improve communications and find common ground, while China announced days before her arrival that it will impose export restrictions on two metals critical to technology industries. U.S. officials, meanwhile, are reportedly considering restricting China’s access to cloud computing.
Some Chinese officials suggested that more export restrictions could be on the way, with a Chinese trade advisor yesterday saying they were “just a start” (Reuters). China’s announcement prompted South Korea’s commerce ministry to hold an emergency meeting and technology companies across Asia to begin studying the curb’s impact, the Financial Times reported.
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“Relations [between the U.S. and China] have not improved but the U.S. has increasingly realized—so has Europe—that the degree of economic interdependence with China is such that decoupling is impossible,” Natixis’s Alicia Garcia Herrero tells Bloomberg. “In other words, there is no way out through the back door: dialogue is needed.”
“Large-scale reshoring could backfire by making supply chains less, not more, resilient. Negative supply shocks are likely to become more frequent in the years ahead as droughts, heat waves, and flooding wreak havoc with production and transport. Closing the door to trade would increase countries’ exposure to such shocks,” World Trade Organization Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala writes in Foreign Affairs.
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Hong Kong Legislature Reduces Directly Elected Seats on Local Councils |
The legislature unanimously passed a bill that will reduce the portion (SCMP) of directly elected seats on district councils from almost 95 percent to 19 percent. Nominees will also be required to get approval from pro-Beijing district-level committees. |
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Nikkei: Taliban Have Stalled on Pakistan Barter Trade |
Though Pakistan last month approved barter trade with Afghanistan, Iran, and Russia to ease its strained public finances, Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders have shown little interest in trading with Pakistan amid its economic crisis, Nikkei reports.
India: Schools were scheduled to reopen yesterday after two months of ethnic clashes in the state of Manipur, but students, teachers, and staff did not show up, Reuters reported. Only four private schools opened.
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Middle East and North Africa |
Netanyahu Announces Israeli Researcher Is Being Held in Iraq |
Israel’s prime minister’s office said that Princeton University doctoral student Elizabeth Tsurkov, who holds Israeli and Russian dual citizenship, is being held by a Shiite militia (WaPo) in Iraq. Israeli and Russian officials are working to try to secure her release, Israeli media reported.
Iran: Four countries with citizens that died when Iranian jets shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane in January 2020 filed a suit against Iran (NYT) at the International Court of Justice, seeking compensation and a full account of events.
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Twelve African Countries to Implement First-Ever Malaria Vaccine Over Next Two Years |
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A malaria vaccine program coordinated by the World Health Organization and private donor groups will distribute eighteen million doses (WHO) by 2025. The vaccine has been administered to more than 1.7 million children in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi since 2019.
South Africa: A gas leak near Johannesburg that is suspected to be linked to illegal gold mining in the area has killed (BBC) seventeen people, officials said.
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Swedish Court Issues Extortion Sentence for Turkish Supporter of Kurdish Group |
A Turkish man who supported a militant Kurdish group was found guilty of attempted extortion (Bloomberg) in Sweden and sentenced to more than four years in prison. The ruling comes on the day that foreign ministers from the two countries meet over Turkey’s refusal to approve Sweden’s application to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In this In Brief, CFR’s Jonathan Masters discusses what would happen if Sweden joined NATO.
Belarus/Russia: Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said that Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has been in Russia (FT) despite his agreement with the Kremlin to relocate to Belarus following Wagner’s failed mutiny last month. The Kremlin said today that it does not keep track of Prigozhin’s movements.
In this In Brief, CFR expert Thomas Graham looks at what Wagner’s failed rebellion could mean for Russia. |
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Colombian Rebel Group Will Suspend Attacks on Military Ahead of Cease-Fire |
The National Liberation Army said that, beginning today, it will halt “all offensive actions” (AP) against Colombia’s military ahead of a six-month cease-fire that is due to take effect on August 3 in an attempt to end five decades of war.
Uruguay: The country’s congress approved an emergency fund (MercoPress) to pay for bottled water and other measures in a drought that is threatening the country’s supply of drinking water.
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Federal Government Approves Country’s Largest-Ever Offshore Wind Project |
Denmark-based Ørsted will operate the farm (Quartz) off the shore of New Jersey, which is expected to generate around 1,100 megawatts of clean energy.
This Backgrounder by Anshu Siripurapu and CFR’s James McBride explains how wind power plays a role in the U.S. power grid. |
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