NEWSLETTER
Thursday / September 29Sep 29
Tuesday / August 9
The United States will send an additional $5.5 billion in aid to Ukraine, consisting of $4.5 billion in budget support and $1 billion in military assistance.
The $4.5 billion budget grant will fund urgent government needs, including paying for pensions, social welfare and health care, bringing total U.S. tax assistance to Ukraine to $8.5 billion dollars since the Russian invasion in February, the US Agency for International Development USAID said.
The funding, coordinated with the US Treasury Department through the World Bank, will go to the Ukrainian government in tranches, beginning with a disbursement of $3 billion in August, USAID said.
The fiscal and military aid packages are drawn from a $40 billion aid package for Ukraine approved by Congress in May. Overall, the United States has paid more than $18 billion to Ukraine this year.
Iran talks
The European Union on Monday said it put forward a "final" text to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal as four days of indirect talks between U.S. and Iranian officials wrapped up in Vienna.
"What can be negotiated has been negotiated, and it’s now in a final text. However, behind every technical issue and every paragraph lies a political decision that needs to be taken in the capitals," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted.
"If these answers are positive, then we can sign this deal," he added as EU, Iranian and U.S. prepared to leave Vienna.
Iran's Nournews website, affiliated with the country's Supreme National Security Council that makes the decisions in the nuclear talks, said the EU as the coordinator of the talks lacked the authority to "present its proposals as the final text".
"The aim is to force Iran to accept the text under pressure... When Iran, as one of the negotiating parties, does not accept it as the final text, no other authority can talk about the finalisation of the text," iNournews said.
"They (the Iranians) repeatedly say they are prepared for a return to mutual implementation of the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). Let’s see if their actions match their words," a U.S. State Department spokesperson said.
Japanese cabinet
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is likely to keep his current finance and foreign ministers in a cabinet reshuffle expected on Wednesday, the Nikkei newspaper wrote.
Kishida, who is facing his lowest support levels since taking office in October, is expected to keep Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, the newspaper said late on Monday.
Kishida also intends to keep the deputy prime minister, Taro Aso, and Hirokazu Matsuno, the chief cabinet secretary, it said, other media have previously said those two would likely be retained.
Jiji news agency reported on Friday that Suzuki, the finance minister, would be retained. The Yomiuri newspaper had previously reported that Kishida was likely replace Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi, due to his health issues.
US stocks
Stocks struggled to hold their ground on Monday as demand concerns for the semiconductor industry weighed on tech names.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.12% to 4,140.06. The Nasdaq Composite ticked down 0.10% to 12,644.46. The Dow held on to a gain of 29.07 points to close at 32,832.54.
Nvidia announced weaker-than-expected revenue for the second quarter, putting pressure on semiconductor stocks. Shares of the chip giant fell more than 6%, and rival stocks like AMD and Broadcom were also under pressure.
Trump home raided
The FBI is raiding Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald Trump’s resort home in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said Monday evening.
In a lengthy statement, Trump said his residence is “currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.”
The raid was “unannounced,” Trump said.
” These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before. After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate. I will continue to fight for the Great American People!" he said.
US consumer expectations
The consumer outlook for inflation decreased significantly in July amid a sharp drop in gas prices and a growing belief that the rapid surges in food and housing would ebb in the future.
The New York Federal Reserve’s monthly Survey of Consumer Expectations showed that respondents expect inflation to run at a 6.2% pace over the next year and a 3.2% rate for the next three years.
While those numbers are still very high by historical standards, they mark a big drop-off from the respective 6.8% and 3.6% results from the June survey.
