– U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley accused Russia on Monday of “cheating” on U.N. sanctions on North Korea and said Washington has “evidence of consistent and wide-ranging Russian violations.” Source: Reuters
Global Organisations
US defense authorities and NATO are monitoring the presence of over a dozen Russian warships in the Eastern Mediterranean, CNN has reported, adding that allied vessels from the Netherlands, Canada, Greece and Spain have been keeping an eye on their Russian counterparts. Source: Ekathimerini
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told the European Parliament on Tuesday he would not bow to EU “blackmail” as lawmakers prepared to vote on whether to punish Budapest for eroding democracy. Source: France24
Russia has requested an extraordinary session of the United Nations Security Council on the results of the latest summit meeting of the leaders of the three Syrian ceasefire guarantor nations, Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Hassan Rouhani of Iran, a spokesman for the Russian mission to the UN said on Monday. Source: TASS
The Trump administration has decided to cancel all U.S. funding of the United Nations aid program for Palestinian refugees, part of its determination to put its money where its policy is as it seeks a recalculation of U.S. foreign aid spending and prepares its own Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. Source: The Washington Post
The Swiss government has decided to hold off on signing up to a landmark United Nations treaty that would ban nuclear weapons. Source: The Local
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on July 31 said in a Tweet that the new Italian government may be in violation of international law for the repatriation of migrants from Libya, due to the level of instability in the war-torn North African nation. Source: New Europe
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that his country is ready to further strengthen coordination and cooperation with China to safeguard and promote common interests and global peace and development. Source: Xinhuanet
If Theresa May wanted proof she is running out of friends in Europe, she need only have ventured to the Roy d’Espagne brasserie in Brussels late last night. For while the Prime Minister dined alone after another summit mauling, Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron and the rest of their European chums were drinking the night away and enjoying the city’s famous beers. Source The Telegraph
President Donald Trump says it “certainly looks” as though missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is dead. Trump did not say Thursday what he based his conclusion on. But he says the consequences for the Saudis “will have to be very severe” if they are found to have killed him. Trump has previously warned that the kingdom will face “severe punishment” from the U.S. if it is determined that Saudi Arabia was responsible for Khashoggi’s death. Khashoggi hasn’t been seen since entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul more than two weeks ago. Turkish authorities say he was killed and dismembered. The Saudis have denied involvement. Source AP News
The head of the European Parliament said on Thursday EU countries who refuse to host refugees could instead pay more for EU migration and development projects in Africa, signalling possible compromise to end a bruising dispute in the bloc. Source: Cyprus Mail
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
(old article we missed) Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was booed on Friday during his first October 12 military parade since he took office in June. When the convoy of official cars in which the politician was traveling made its way down the Castellana boulevard in central Madrid, thousands of people began to jeer and whistle at him. Source El Pais
The US has said it intends to negotiate three separate trade agreements with Japan, the UK and the EU. It could take several months before the negotiations begin, it said. The move is part of US President Donald Trump’s efforts to reshape trade policies to support his “America First” agenda. Source: BBC
The US and China have shrugged off rules and constraints that have kept their 21st-century global rivalry in check, opening the way for an escalating conflict on many fronts that neither side appears willing or able to stop. Source: The Guardian
French Leftist firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon has broken new ground on social media by broadcasting a police raid on his political headquarters from his mobile phone. A furious Mr Mélenchon, head of France Insoumise (France Unbowed), filmed as eight police officers searched the party headquarters early on Tuesday, which he slammed as an attempted “coup de force” against his party “to scare and intimidate us”. Source The Telegraph
China’s economic growth cooled to its weakest pace since the global financial crisis in the third quarter, with regulators pledging further policy support as a years-long campaign to tackle debt risks and the trade war with the United States began to bite. Source: Reuters
One of the oldest coal companies in the U.S. with connections to Coshocton filed for bankruptcy protection Oct. 9 to deal with more than $1.4 billion in debt amid declining demand for the fuel. Englewood, Colorado-based Westmoreland Coal Co. filed for voluntary Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston as part of a restructuring agreement with an unnamed group of lenders. Source Coshocton
A Tennessee coal mining company that filed for bankruptcy this week is the second coal company to go bankrupt during Donald Trump’s pro-coal presidency. It’s also the fifth U.S. coal industry bankruptcy in the last three years as competitors in the energy market continue to drive coal into the dust pile. Source CBS
An unprecedented volume of Iranian crude oil is set to arrive at China’s northeast Dalian port this month and in early November before U.S. sanctions on Iran take effect, according to an Iranian shipping source and data on Refinitiv Eikon. “As our leaders have said it will be impossible to stop Iran from selling its oil. We have various ways of selling our oil and when the tankers reach Dalian, we will decide whether to sell it to other buyers or to China,” Source Reuters
Turkey’s Naval Forces have interdicted a Greek warship as it harassed a Turkish seismic vessel off Cyprus, according to local media reports. State-run Anadolu Agency reported Oct. 18 that Turkey’s first seismic vessel Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa was harassed by a Greek frigate during its ongoing probe off Cyprus. An undisclosed number of warships of Turkey’s Naval Forces interdicted the Greek warship, the report added. “We recommend Greece to abstain from acts that would cause an escalation in the Mediterranean region,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement after the incident. Source Hurriyetdailynews
Italy’s Prime Minister defended the country’s “beautiful” 2019 budget on Thursday, brushing off criticism of it from Brussels as European authorities stepped up pressure for changes to a draft that breaches the bloc’s fiscal rules. Source Reuters
Turkey’s top refiner, Tüpraş, is in talks with U.S. officials to obtain a waiver allowing it to keep buying Iranian oil after Washington reinstates sanctions on the Islamic Republic’s energy sector in November, industry sources said. Source: Hurriyet Daily News
Yesterday, the Hungarian central bank announced it recently boosted its gold reserves 10-fold. According to its website, the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) now owns 31.5 tons of gold, up from 3.1 tons. It was the first significant purchase of gold by Hungary since 1986. Shiff Gold
Egypt is working on a new model for future oil and natural gas production contracts in undeveloped areas to spur exploration and help become self-sufficient in energy, oil ministry and company officials said. Source: Bloomberg
“Turkey will not allow unilateral activities [in the Eastern Mediterranean]. We need to protect the rights of Turkish Cypriots with actual steps,” Çavuşoğlu said at a symposium entitled “Law and Politics in the Eastern Mediterranean” at Ankara University. Source: Hurriyet Daily News
China’s moves to boost liquidity in an effort to safeguard economic growth are eroding the country’s yield premium over the U.S., putting “renewed pressure” on the yuan, according to Citigroup Inc. Source: Bloomberg
