IMF warns of trade tensions in global outlook downgrade
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday downgraded its global growth outlook, citing trade tensions between the two largest economies.
China
FBI director pegs China as the most ‘severe’ counterintelligence threat
FBI Director Christopher Wray said that China is the greatest counterintelligence threat facing the U.S. but warned that Russia is a close runner-up as Moscow remains focused on disrupting the upcoming presidential election.
‘The situation in North Korea is absolutely dire’: Panel Highlights Number 1 Persecutor of Christians, Once Christian Itself
The situation for Christians in North Korea was highlighted recently by a panel that spoke before the debut of the documentary Humanity Denied: Religious Freedom in North Korea held just down the road from the State Department’s summit on religious freedom Thursday.
U.S.-China officials discuss trade; Mnuchin eyes possible in-person talks
U.S. and Chinese officials spoke by telephone on Thursday as the world’s two largest economies seek to end a year-long trade war, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggesting in-person talks could follow.
U.S. Slaps Sanctions On Nuclear Supply Network For Iran’s Enrichment Program
The U.S. Treasury Department on July 18 imposed additional sanctions on Iran that target its nuclear-enrichment program.
China’s GDP growth slumps to 27-year low amid trade war with US
The Chinese economy has suffered a loss of momentum in the second quarter, with the GDP falling to 6.2 % from a 6.4 % expansion in the first three months of the year, figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday.
‘You Will Go to a Worse Place Than This’: Muslim Uighurs Conscripted into China’s Communist Schools, Report Reveals
China’s Communist thought transformation camps were recently exposed in a BBC report that toured one of the facilities where more than a million Uighur Muslims have been imprisoned.
Early Rain Covenant Church Member Escaped to Taiwan: ‘No Long Safe’ for Christians in China
More information has surfaced regarding the lockup of 100 members of the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China, in December.
‘We Hope that Obstacles Will Be Removed’: Iran Seeks to Build Railway Connecting Iran, Iraq, Syria
Iran, Syria, and Iraq signed an agreement Wednesday, July 3rd, to construct an Iran-funded railway from Shalamcheh in the Islamic Republic to the Mediterranean coastal city of Lattakia in Syria, bypassing trade waterways typically patrolled by the US.
U.S., China to relaunch talks with little changed since deal fell apart
The United States and China are set to relaunch trade talks this week after a two-month hiatus, but a year after their trade war began there is little sign their differences have narrowed.
Dollar dips after Trump says US should play ‘currency manipulation game’ like Europe, China
The greenback fell Wednesday after President Donald Trump said in a tweet that the U.S. should match China and Europe’s ‘currency manipulation game.’
US trade deficit rises to 5-month high of $55.5B in May
The U.S. trade deficit rose to a five-month high in May as the politically sensitive imbalances with China and Mexico widened.
Europe Circumvents U.S. Sanctions On Iran
Europe has found a way of circumventing U.S. sanctions on Iran. The governments of France, Germany and the United Kingdom have developed a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to enable European businesses to maintain non-dollar trade with Iran without breaking U.S. sanctions. That SPV, known as INSTEX, is now up and running.
Trump says China trade talks ‘back on track,’ new tariffs on hold
The United States and China agreed on Saturday to restart trade talks after President Donald Trump offered concessions including no new tariffs and an easing of restrictions on tech company Huawei in order to reduce tensions with Beijing.
American Delegates Reiterate US ‘Maximum Pressure” Campaign on Iran to Allies, While Iran Agrees to Stay in Nuclear Deal
Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper met with NATO officials in Brussels Thursday, the same day special envoy Brian Hook was in Paris to drum up support from nuclear deal partners for the US’s position on Iran.
Trump heads to Asia for talks on trade, Iran, North Korea
Heading into what is likely his most consequential overseas trip of the year, President Trump will be forced to grapple with a flurry of international crises, tense negotiations, and a growing global to-do list.
Trump says trade deal ‘possible’ with China’s Xi, tariffs could be lower
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that a trade deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping was possible this weekend but he is prepared to impose U.S. tariffs on virtually all remaining Chinese imports if the two countries continue to disagree.
NATO looks to outer space as modern warfare evolves
Defending the land, sea and airspace of NATO members may soon no longer suffice. At the organization’s Brussels summit this week, NATO defense ministers have for the first time ever discussed branching out into space defense.
Trump May Have Accidentally Imposed ‘Bible Tax’ Through Sanctions On China, Say Christian Publishers
Representatives for major American Bible publishers met with the U.S. International Trade Commission on Tuesday and Wednesday, hoping to apprise the Trump administration of potential effects on Bible manufacture in the US-China trade war.
Russia and China Oppose ‘Unilateral’ Moves By US On Iran
Russia and China are concocting a plan to circumvent US sanctions on Iran.