Category: Uncategorized

Morning Intelligence – The Gist Beijing’s fresh squeeze on rare-earth exports has jolted Brussels into rallying the G7—and, pointedly, Washington—behind a joint response. EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič warns that Chinese licensing delays have already idled European plants, underscoring a structural imbalance: China refines roughly 90 % of global rare-earths, yet the materials underpin €7…

Evening Analysis – The Gist Belgium’s one-day general strike rippled far beyond the Grand-Place. Some 80,000 marchers clogged Brussels as security walkouts shut every departure at the nation’s two main airports and sliced metro service to a skeleton, stranding an estimated 200,000 travelers. Unions say Prime Minister Bart De Wever’s plan to lift the pension…

Morning Intelligence – The Gist Global markets have spent 2025 levitating on stimulus and wishful thinking; today the G-20’s Financial Stability Board warns that gravity is preparing its reply. Chair Andrew Bailey tells finance ministers that equity and housing valuations now outstrip the “uncertain economic and geopolitical outlook,” leaving the system “susceptible to a disorderly…

Evening Analysis – The Gist Good evening, Hamas today released all 20 surviving Israeli hostages while Israel began freeing more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners under the first phase of a Gaza cease-fire that ends two years of war which has killed an estimated 67,000 Palestinians and displaced 90 percent of the Strip’s population.(reuters.com) Prisoner exchanges…

Morning Intelligence – The Gist China’s September trade data defied gravity: exports jumped 8.3 % and imports 7.4 %, even as President Trump threatens 100 % tariffs and Beijing tightens rare-earth controls. The U.S. share of Chinese exports has slid below 10 %, yet overall shipments hit a six-month high of $328.5 bn.(reuters.com) Those figures…

Evening Analysis – The Gist Good evening, 18:32. A three-day Gaza ceasefire is holding as Israel readies to receive 20 living hostages and the remains of 28 others, while freeing roughly 2,000 Palestinian detainees. Mediated by Washington, Cairo, Doha and Ankara, the swap is scheduled for Monday and coincides with President Trump’s high-profile visit to…

Morning Intelligence – The Gist Israel’s two-day-old Gaza ceasefire is more than a pause in gunfire; it is a stress-test for a region where cycles of devastation have long outpaced reconstruction. Roughly half-a-million Palestinians streamed back through newly opened checkpoints on Saturday, confronting a landscape where the UN counts 70 % of housing stock damaged…

Evening Analysis – The Gist China-U.S. trade friction has lurched into uncharted territory: Washington will slap an extra 100 % duty on all Chinese imports from 1 November, atop layers that already average 45 %—the steepest across any bilateral corridor since the Smoot-Hawley era. (reuters.com) Markets rightly flinched: the S&P 500 shed 3 % and…

Morning Intelligence – The Gist France’s revolving‐door at Matignon spun again overnight as Emmanuel Macron re-installed Sébastien Lecornu—his third pick this year and sixth since 2023—after the 38-year-old resigned only four days earlier amidst cabinet chaos. France now confronts a €178 billion budget hole and a deficit projected by the Banque de France to reach…

Evening Analysis – The Gist The latest U.S.–China rupture pivots on minerals, not microchips. Beijing’s expanded export controls now cover 90% of the world’s processed rare-earths, forcing any firm that uses Chinese magnets or alloys to seek Beijing’s approval. Within hours, President Trump warned of a “massive” tariff surge and hinted he may scrap next…