General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Chinese President Xi Jinping departed Friday for home after concluding a two-day state visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
China would like to offer as much help as possible to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to address its legitimate security and development concerns, President Xi said on Thursday. Source: China Daily
Italy’s active population is shrinking at a rate not seen since the days when World War One and a deadly pandemic were wiping out people by the thousands, the latest figures from the national statistics office show. Source: Italy
Russia is ready to help Iran with oil exports and its banking sector if the Instex European payment system is not launched, Interfax news agency cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Friday. Source: Reuters
This time last year the roughly half-a-million people who live in Cape Town were in a panic. Their city was three months away from becoming the first major metropolis to fully deplete its water sources, and as the saga unfolded, the whole world watched in earnest. Today, in Chennai – India’s sixth largest city – 4.6 million people have all but run out of water, and only now are we beginning to pay attention. Science: Alert
Three churches across east London were targeted in a series of arson attacks, according to church leaders. Archdeacon of West Ham, Elwin Cockett, said he was “shocked and saddened” by the vandalism and arson attacks at three churches yesterday (Wednesday, June 19) – St John’s church in Stratford, St Matthew’s in West Ham and Cann Hall Road Baptist Church in Leytonstone. Source: Guardian
At the end of an anti-drug operation police officers in a neighborhood of Bagnols-sur-Ceze (Gard), officials were violently attacked by about fifty individuals, including many young adolescents. Several police vehicles were heavily degraded. Source: Actu17
Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic said Thursday he was “99 per cent” sure a Paris summit aimed at reviving talks with Kosovo would be cancelled, as the former war foes remain stuck in an acrimonious diplomatic deadlock. Source Business Standarrt
A Russian ‘Air Force plane’ has reportedly landed in Venezuela, according to photos and flight tracker reports. In March, a similar event sparked a heated war of words between Moscow and Washington. The plane arrived at Venezuela’s “main airport” on Monday, Reuters reported, referring to the Simon Bolivar International Airport outside of the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. The agency did not provide any further details about the aircraft. Source: RT
Possible deployment of US missiles on the ground near Russian borders may trigger a missile crisis identical in scale to the Caribbean one, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Federation Council during debates on a bill on the suspension of Russia’s participation in the treaty on the elimination of intermediate and shorter range missiles (INF Treaty). Source: Tass
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have launched an attack on Abha civilian airport in southern Saudi Arabia that killed one person and wounded seven others, the Saudi-led coalition battling the group in Yemen has said. Source AlJazeera
Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Taipei in heavy rain Sunday, calling for the departure from Taiwan of “red media” outlets, which are perceived to be influenced by China. Source: Focus Taiwan
If it is up to a large majority of the Amsterdam city council, Amsterdam will apologize for the history of slavery in early July next year. The proposal came from the Turkish party DENK. Source: WNL
The U.S. Commerce Department said on Friday it was adding several Chinese companies and a government-owned institute involved in supercomputing with military applications to its national security “entity list” that bars them from buying U.S. parts and components without government approval. Source: Reuters
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Chinese President Xi Jinping departed Friday for home after concluding a two-day state visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
China would like to offer as much help as possible to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to address its legitimate security and development concerns, President Xi said on Thursday. Source: China Daily
Italy’s active population is shrinking at a rate not seen since the days when World War One and a deadly pandemic were wiping out people by the thousands, the latest figures from the national statistics office show. Source: Italy
Russia is ready to help Iran with oil exports and its banking sector if the Instex European payment system is not launched, Interfax news agency cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Friday. Source: Reuters
This time last year the roughly half-a-million people who live in Cape Town were in a panic. Their city was three months away from becoming the first major metropolis to fully deplete its water sources, and as the saga unfolded, the whole world watched in earnest. Today, in Chennai – India’s sixth largest city – 4.6 million people have all but run out of water, and only now are we beginning to pay attention. Science: Alert
Daimler cut its 2019 earnings outlook on Sunday after lifting provisions for issues related to its diesel vehicles by hundreds of millions of euros.Group earnings before interest and tax this year are now expected to be at last year’s level, the automaker said, against a previous estimate of a slight increase.Source Automotive News
Turkey’s second drill ship Yavuz will operate in a borehole near Cyprus’ Karpas peninsula, to the northeast of the island, for around three months and reach a depth of 3,300 metres (3,609 yards), Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said on Thursday. Source: Ekathimerini
he Bundesbank president has in the past opposed the ECB’s bond purchasing programmes, which were implemented during the region’s financial crisis to alleviate strains on the economy and financial system. But he told German weekly Die Zeit on Wednesday that the programmes fell within the central bank’s mandate. Source: The Irish Time
Speaking to CNBC Wednesday, ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos added to Draghi’s comments and outlined some possible measures the central bank could implement. The ECB foresees “lingering softness” in the short term, in particular due to geopolitical factors and trade conflicts. The European Central Bank’s (ECB) vice president said another large bond-buying program could be an option if inflation in the region doesn’t reach its intended target. Source: CNBC
The US central bank has opened the door to an interest rate rise, in a shift in guidance that follows criticism by President Donald Trump. The Federal Reserve left rates on hold, but said uncertainties about the economic outlook could force its hand. According to the vote, one Fed policymaker advocated an immediate cut, something the president has called for. Source: BBC
The European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi pledged to boost inflation if it continued to fall short of ECB’s intended targets, signaling a major policy reversal on Tuesday. Addressing an ECB forum in Portugal, Draghi said that “additional stimulus will be required” if inflation remained low. He also said that “further cuts in policy interest rates remain part of our tools.” Source: Deutsche Welle
Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said on Tuesday Rome would press ahead with a plan to settle overdue state payments by issuing mini-bills unless a better solution was put forward.
The mini-bills would be “a tool to pay state debts towards families and suppliers. If there is a smarter way of doing this someone should say so, otherwise we’ll stick to it,” Salvini said on the sidelines of a conference in Rome. Source: Reuters
Construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has been completed for 58.7% of its total length, the Russian gas holding said on Monday. “Construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline continues. 1,441 km of the gas pipeline were laid on the bottom of the Baltic Sea by now – 58.7% of its total length,” Gazprom says. Source Tass.
Germany’s economy “should shrink slightly” in the second quarter of 2019, the country’s central bank Bundesbank said in its monthly report published here on Monday. “Special effects that contributed to a noticeable rise in gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter (of the current year) are either expiring or being reversed,” the report said. Source Xnhuanet
Deutsche Bank is planning to overhaul its trading operations by creating a so-called bad bank to hold tens of billions of euros of non-core assets, a source close to the matter said on Monday. Source: Reuters
The Japanese owner of a tanker attacked in the Gulf of Oman claimed Friday that it was struck by a flying projectile, contradicting reports by U.S. officials and the military on the source of the blast. Source: NBC
Gefira tracks the global players in Europe, the USA, Russia and China and anticipates the consequences of their policies
Gefira No. 9 is now available at a discount. 160 euros for 10 issues a year plus access to our archives.
Europe's geopolitical situation resembles that of 1913.
The enlargement of the European Union to the east, Germany's Ostpolitik, economic power and its reluctance to align its policy with France's and Italy's make the break-up of the Union unavoidable. While Germany is gaining a status of a financial superstar, German society is starting to disintegrate.
Nobody dares to ask, but the ECB board is bracing itself for the upcoming break-up of the euro. The Gefira team explains why France or Italy will leave the euro and we investigate how the ECB is preparing for the looming euro collapse.
