Top Stories Today – July 30, 2019
Top Stories Today – July 30, 2019
Trade worries as Trump tweets weight down markets
European stock markets were down sharply Tuesday after US President Donald Trump published a series of tweets that cast doubt on any hopes of an imminent easing in trade tensions between the US and China. Apple earnings later could help change the sentiment. As a US delegation was in Shanghai meeting with their Chinese counterparts, Trump accused Beijing of not delivering on promises to buy more US agricultural products. He also pondered whether China was holding out from an agreement until after the result of next year’s US presidential election.
Trump said: “The problem with them waiting, however, is that if & when I win, the deal that they get will be much tougher than what we are negotiating now … or no deal at all.” The trade conflict between the US and China has been the biggest negative for the markets over the past couple of years, with investors worried that a full-blown trade war could derail the global recovery and augur in a new world of protectionism. Fawad Razaqzada, a technical analyst at Forex.com, said Trump’s tweets “don’t bode well for the US-China trade talks.” Those concerns clearly weighed on European markets Tuesday and set to do so at Wall Street’s open. The Associated Press
Top diplomats gather In Bangkok for Asia-Pacific Talks
Top diplomats from the Asia-Pacific region started gathering Tuesday in the Thai capital to discuss issues of concern to the area, including security on the Korean peninsula and China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. The meetings in Bangkok are hosted by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, chaired this year by Thailand. Thai officials say there will be 27 meetings in all through Saturday, and 31 countries and alliances will participate.
The heavy-hitters in Bangkok this week include US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Other ASEAN dialogue partners include Australia, India, the European Union, Japan and South Korea. A representative of North Korea will be present in Bangkok, a Thai foreign ministry spokesman said last week, though it is not clear if Pyongyang is sending its foreign minister. The Voice of America
Pakistan army plane crashes into houses killing 18
At least 18 people were killed and several injured when a small military plane crashed into a residential area near the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi. Five crew members and 13 civilians were among the dead, rescue services said. The aircraft was on a training flight when it crashed and set off a fire across several homes. One witness said the plane was ablaze before the crash. The King Air 350 turboprop reportedly took a steep turn near its destination airport before coming down.
Witnesses at the scene said the aircraft crashed into a family home in a residential area around 02:00 local time. Pakistan has a chequered aviation safety record, including a number of airliner crashes. BBC
Capital One target of massive data breach
A hacker gained access to personal information from more than 100 million Capital One credit applications, the bank said Monday as federal authorities arrested a suspect in the case. Paige A. Thompson — who also goes by the handle “erratic” — was charged with a single count of computer fraud and abuse in US District Court in Seattle. Thompson made an initial appearance in court and was ordered to remain in custody pending a detention hearing Thursday.
The hacker got information including credit scores and balances plus the Social Security numbers of about 140,000 customers, the bank said. It will offer free credit monitoring services to those affected. The FBI raided Thompson’s residence Monday and seized digital devices. An initial search turned up files that referenced Capital One and “other entities that may have been targets of attempted or actual network intrusions.” The Associated Press
Afghan allies killing most civilians
Pro-government forces, including Nato allies, killed more civilians in Afghanistan in the first half of 2019 than insurgents did, UN figures show. It is the first time in the 18-year conflict that this has occurred and comes amid a ferocious US air campaign against the Taliban. Some 717 civilians were killed by Afghan and Nato-led forces, compared to 531 by militants, the UN said. The data comes as Washington continues to seek a swift end to the war.
Air strikes, mostly carried out by American warplanes, killed 363 people, including 89 children, in the first six months of the year, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama). Washington is holding negotiations with the Taliban to try to strike a deal for a troop withdrawal while simultaneously carrying out an intense air campaign against them. The militants refuse to hold formal negotiations with the Afghan government until there is an agreed timetable for the US withdrawal. BBC
Trump wants US forces Reduced in Afghanistan
US President Donald Trump wants combat forces reduced in Afghanistan by the next US presidential election, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday, in comments that underlined the growing pressure from Washington to cut troop numbers there.
Trump’s South Asia strategy, unveiled in August 2017, called for an open-ended deployment of US forces with the goal of compelling the Taliban to negotiate peace with the Kabul government to end nearly 18 years of war. The Voice of America
Trump adviser used ties to promote Saudi nuclear project
A group of private companies, including one led by President Donald Trump’s fundraiser Tom Barrack, used their close ties to the White House to secure support for a nuclear power project backed by Saudi Arabia and lobbied against limits on the transfer of sensitive nuclear technology to the kingdom, according to a report from the House Oversight and Reform Committee released Monday.
Citing tens of thousands of pages of documents obtained mainly from private industry, the report from the committee’s Democratic majority said the findings show the Trump administration has dangerously blurred the lines between government decision-making and corporate and foreign interests, with potentially dire consequences. NBC News
‘Old Town Road’ becomes longest-running No. 1 hit
Country-rap hit “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X on Monday became the longest-running No. 1 hit on Billboard’s Hot 100 charts, continuing into its 17th week at the top. Previously, the record was held at 16 weeks by “One Sweet Day” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men and “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, and Justin Bieber.
Lil Nas X, the 20-year-old rapper, first climbed to the top of the country charts but was booted for “not [embracing] enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version,” per Billboard. After Billy Ray Cyrus added a verse and the song became a viral hit, “Old Town Road” topped the genre-spanning Hot 100 chart. Billboard via The Week