Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar both made history Tuesday by winning their elections and becoming the first Muslim women to be elected to the U.S. Congress. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
Immigration
The draft legislation, likely to be submitted to parliament on Friday, has come under attack from both the opposition and members of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s party, but business leaders say it is desperately needed. Source: NDTV
He spoke a day after Austria said it would follow the United States and Hungary in backing out of the UN pact over concerns that it would blur the line between legal and illegal migration. A minister in Poland’s arch-conservative government has also recommended his country quit the agreement. Source: Cyprus Mail
President Trump said Wednesday that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if billionaire philanthropist George Soros or someone else is funding the caravan of Central American migrants moving toward the U.S.
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Trump told reporters outside the White House when asked if “someone” is paying for the caravan. Source The Hill
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the United States could send as many as 15,000 troops to the border with Mexico, as he hardens his stance against a caravan of migrants fleeing violence and poverty in Central America. Source: Reuters
Visiting Berlin for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s African business summit, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi spoke to DW about political turmoil in his country, migration issues, and when a leader should step down. Source: Deutsche Welle
Austria will not sign on to a landmark UN pact regulating global migration. The right-wing government of Sebastian Kurz is following in the footsteps of leaders from the United States and Hungary. Source: Deutsche Welle
Elderly people and those with disabilities face losing care services across Scotland as deep cuts are made. Staff vacancies are left unfilled, even when vacancies could affect support elderly people need to live independently in their own homes, as the bodies that oversee social care and GP surgeries battle with budgets that are plunging millions of pounds into the red. Source The Times
Turkey has decided to no longer stop Syrian refugees from reaching Europe by land and sea, a senior Turkish official told Reuters on Thursday, in anticipation of the imminent arrival of refugees from Syria’s Idlib where nearly a million have been displaced. Source Daily Sabah
At least 22 Turkish servicemen have been killed in an airstrike in Syria’s Idlib province, while an unspecified number of soldiers were injured. The airstrike has been attributed to the Syrian military by Turkish officials. Source RT
Earlier, Milorad Dodik said that Republika Srpska “has embarked on the course of leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina and this course is irreversible.” The first step in this direction was the Bosnian Serb representatives’ refusal to work in government at the republican level. Source Modern Diplomacy
Russia test-launched its Tsirkon hypersonic missile from a ship for the first time when the Project 22350 frigate Admiral Gorshkov fired the weapon from the Barents Sea against a ground target in January, two sources in defense circles of Russia’s North-Western Federal District told TASS on Thursday. Source Tass
President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that France was preparing for a jump in the number of coronavirus cases, adding “we are going to have to deal with it as best we can.” “We are facing a crisis, an epidemic that is coming,” Macron said while visiting staff at the La Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris, where the first French person carrying the new coronavirus died Tuesday. Source France24
Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei is gearing up to build it’s a manufacturing plant in Europe. This will be the company’s first plant in Europe, said the company on Thursday. The decision to build an entirely new plant in France is understandably in a bid to ease worldwide concerns over the company’s way of operation and credibility. Source International Business Times
A Turkish delegation urged its Russian counterparts to immediately establish a cease-fire in Idlib, during talks in Ankara on the situation in Syria.
Turkey told Russia a cease-fire should be immediately established as the two sides discussed steps that should be taken on the ground, according to diplomatic sources. Source Anadolu Agency
Turkey plans to push Syrian government forces away from its military observation posts in northwest Syria’s Idlib region by the end of February, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, despite advances by the Russian-backed military. Source Reuters Al Jazeera
After extensive clashes between officers and islanders that left 62 people injured on the eastern Aegean islands of Lesvos and Chios, the government announced on Wednesday that it is withdrawing most of the riot police units that were stationed there to counter fierce reaction to the creation of new, closed migrant camps. Source Ekathimerini
Hokkaido announced its first COVID-19 death on Wednesday, as the prefectural education board urged local authorities to temporarily close all public elementary and junior high schools in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Source Japan Times
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
China’s warehouses have racked up record levels of steel as the coronavirus outbreak has brought construction and manufacturing, which account for more than half of global demand for the material, to a standstill.
Steel makers and traders held a total of 34.3m tons of finished steel products – the highest level ever recorded – as of February 20, according to Shanghai-based industry data provider Mysteel. Source Capital
Long-term bond rates are falling sharply as worries about a recession increase. The 30-year US Treasury yield is at an all-time low and the 10-year is not far from its 2016 record low of 1.32%. The price of US oil fell 5%. And the US dollar is near a 52-week high. Source CNN
Car sales in China fell 92% in the first half of February as the coronavirus shutdown took its toll, according to an industry trade body. Car dealerships have remained closed while buyers have stayed away to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. Source BBC
Germany’s 30-year bond yield turned negative for the first time since October on Monday, meaning the entire yield curve in the euro zone’s biggest economy was below zero again as coronavirus fears gripped world markets. The yield on the 30-year German bond fell 6 basis point to -0.022%, its lowest level since October. Source Reuters
- The drop off in tourist numbers is an “important impact” on France’s economy, Bruno Le Maire, the country’s finance minister, said.
- France is one of the most visited countries in the world, and tourism accounts for nearly 8% of its GDP.
- Le Maire said France welcomes around 2.7 million Chinese tourists to the country each year, but it “won’t be the same” in 2020. Source CNBC
European leaders failed to reach an agreement on the bloc’s Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027, after more than 24 hours of negotiations and dozens of bilateral meetings held during EU’s emergency summit. Source New Europe
U.S. satellite broadband provider Hughes Network Systems may have to shut its Indian operations due to unpaid levies owed to the government, which could put thousands of banking services at risk, a company letter seen by Reuters showed.
India’s Supreme Court late last year ordered a number of telecom companies, including Hughes and larger firms like Vodafone (L:VOD), to pay billions of dollars owed to the government. Source Reuters
Kuwait Airways said it has decided to suspend all flights to Iran on Thursday until another notice amid fears from a coronavirus outbreak, according to statements published on the company’s Twitter account. Source Al Alarabiya
