- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Iran is responsible for the drone attacks on important facilities in Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province that reportedly forced the kingdom to shut down half of its oil production on Saturday.
- Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for the attacks, which created a huge fire at a processor essential to global energy supplies.
- “We call on all nations to publicly and unequivocally condemn Iran’s attacks,” Pompeo said. Source CNBC
Shrinking exports held back German economic activity in the fourth quarter of last year, detailed data showed on Tuesday, confirming that Europe’s largest economy was stagnating even before the coronavirus outbreak began. Source Al Jazeera
In the end, the Council has moved closer to the most austere positions of the core countries, proposing a significant cut with respect to the previous budget (1.16% of GDP in 2014-20) and in comparison to the Commission’s proposals (1.11% of GDP) and of Parliament (1.3% of GDP). In addition, it reduces funding for the most significant items so far: cohesion (-12%) and agriculture (-14%). Source The Corner
uro zone money markets started to fully price in a December European Central Bank interest rate cut on Wednesday, as the spread of the coronavirus outside China prompted traders to ramp up expectations for more stimulus. Source Reuters
