Saudi Arabia is intensifying efforts to shrink the highest budget deficit among the world’s biggest 20 economies, aiming to cancel more than $20 billion of projects and slash ministry budgets by a quarter, people familiar with the matter said. Source Bloomberg
The European Union will seek Asian support for free trade, the Iran nuclear deal and combating global warming at a regional summit on Thursday that includes China, Japan and Russia as a counterbalance to a more protectionist United States. Source: Reuters
Meeting in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi, the Russian and Egyptian presidents have signed what officials describes as a strategic cooperation treaty designed to increase trade, military, and other ties between the two nations. Source: Radio Free Europe
The Trump administration said on Wednesday that it intends to pull the US out of a 144-year-old international postal alliance, citing a “flawed system” that allows developing countries like China to ship goods around the world more cheaply. Source: South China Morning Post
