This Week in 30 Minutes
by: Diego Ibazeta Lucero, Mabel Kim Taveras, and Hugues Duron
August 15th, 2020
Hi there! We are two economists-to-be sharing + one Business & Law major sharing with you, every Saturday, what we believe are the most relevant and interesting news of the week. The newsletter will be divided between all of our LinkedIn profiles. Please share, like, and comment all your thoughts and suggestions. Enjoy!
- For Economics, Finance, & Corporate news click here;
- For Start-ups & Tech news click here.
China Imposes Sanctions on US Officials in Retaliation for Hong Kong Measures
China has imposed sanctions on 11 American lawmakers and foreign policy experts in response to similar US measures on Chinese and Hong Kong officials, as tensions between the two powers escalate. Beijing on Monday hit back at the US after President Donald Trump last week brought sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials over their role in imposing a draconian security law on the Asian financial centre. Read more here.
Israeli Coalition Stand-off Raises Fears of Fourth Election
Israel’s coalition government is in danger of unravelling, just four months after it was formed, raising the spectre of a fourth parliamentary election in under two years. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and coalition partner Benny Gantz are at loggerheads over passing the budget. If the two are unable to reach a compromise by August 24, parliament will dissolve and plunge Israel into another round of elections. Read more here.
EU Revokes Some of Cambodia’s Trade Privileges over Human Rights Violations
Brussels has partially withdrawn tariff-free trading rights from Cambodia in protest against human rights violations in the country — the first time the EU has revoked preferential “Everything But Arms” trade terms created for the world’s poorest countries. The European Commission on Wednesday confirmed that Cambodia’s EBA rights had been partly suspended, following through on an EU decision from earlier this year. The move means some Cambodian goods such as clothing and footwear products will now face tariffs when they are imported into the EU, as well as sugar. Read more here.
Israel and United Arab Emirates Strike Historic Peace Accord
Israel and the United Arab Emirates have reached a historic peace deal that will normalise diplomatic relations between the Jewish state and the Gulf nation. The agreement, which the US helped broker, means the UAE is on course to become only the third Arab state to have full diplomatic ties with Israel, after Egypt and Jordan. A joint statement by the UAE, Israel and the US said the “breakthrough will advance peace in the Middle East region”. As part of the agreement, Israel has agreed to suspend the annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank. Read more here.
Australia Aims to Become Renewable Energy Export Superpower
Australia has shipped vast quantities of coal and gas to fuel Asia’s rapid growth for decades. But amid global concerns over climate change, investors and a previously sceptical conservative government are now backing plans to build a renewable energy export industry to help diversify its economy. Last month the Australian government awarded “major project status” to Sun Cable, a A$22bn (US$16bn) solar power project in Northern Territory, a remote region more typically known as a source of liquefied natural gas. The designation aims to fast track construction of the world’s largest battery, a solar farm and a 3,700km electricity cable to supply A$2bn a year of green energy to Singapore by 2027. Read more here.
Ripped Chemical Bags Added to Risk of Beirut Blast
Lebanese officials knew that more than half the bags of a 2,750-tonne stockpile of ammonium nitrate that caused a deadly explosion in Beirut were damaged six years ago, but took no action to dispose of the chemical. A 2014 inspection report by Beirut port authorities, seen by the Financial Times, labels the chemical as “explosives” and said that 1,950 of the 2,750 one-tonne bags filled with the chemical were “torn”. Photos of the stockpile taken the following year, also seen by the FT, show the huge sacks appearing to be stacked haphazardly on top of each other and ammonium nitrate spilling from large rips in the industrial bags. Read more here.
Belarus Rocked by Police Violence After Election Protesters Take to Streets
Belarus’s opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has rejected official election results that gave a landslide victory to strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko and triggered a brutal crackdown by police. Protests erupted across the eastern European country on Sunday evening after exit polls pointed to a win for Mr Lukashenko. Belarusian security forces were seen beating protesters, with activists saying at least one person had died and many more had been injured. Read more here.
Canada Defends Role for Oil Sands Projects in Energy Transition
Canada’s government has vigorously defended the country’s oil industry and its controversial oil sands projects, even as it seeks to drastically cut emissions. Revenues from the huge bitumen developments in Alberta, long opposed by environmentalists, would be critical to funding the country’s energy transition, said Seamus O’Regan, natural resources minister and a leading figure in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s minority government. “There is no way we are reaching net-zero without Alberta,” Mr O’Regan said in an interview, referring to the country’s 2050 emissions target. Read more here.
UK Universities Urged to be ‘Flexible’ on Admissions Amid A-level Concerns
The UK government has urged universities to be “as flexible as possible” in admissions this year, as it acknowledged that the grades to be awarded, with exams having been cancelled because of coronavirus, may not be fair for all students. In a letter to university vice-chancellors ahead of A-level results being released on Thursday, Michelle Donelan, universities minister, asked that places be held for students who are appealing their grades after not meeting conditional offers. She added that they will be exempt from student number controls, which were brought in by the government in June. Read more here.
Netherlands and Belgium Split Over Tackling Virus Hotspots
The Netherlands and Belgium are battling some of Europe’s sharpest increases in new Covid-19 cases despite taking sharply different strategies that highlight the difficulties governments still face in quelling the virus. The latest figures show a near doubling of new Covid-19 cases in the Netherlands at the start of August while Belgium has reported its fifth consecutive week of rising infections. Read more here.
- For Economics, Finance, & Corporate news click here;
- For Start-ups & Tech news click here.
See you next week!