ECB meeting, North Korea fires new missile, Sino-US talks to resume in Shanghai, massacre in Westminster: Your Thursday briefing
South Korean officials said that North Korea fired short-range missiles on Thursday.
First since the DMZ date
They constitute first such tests since Chairman Kim Jong Un met the US President Donald Trump at the DMZ and agreed to revive stalled talks on denuclearization of the peninsula. Seoul said one of the missiles was a new design. There is yet to be a reaction from the Trump administration.
ECB future rate policy in focus
European Central Bank’s (ECB) Governing Council is gathering Thursday to discuss policy amid fears of a recession given recent negative PMI data and a protracted Sino-US trade war that is threatening supply chains around the world and global economic growth.
Markets do not expect an imminent cut in interest rates now but consider it most likely that the central bank will change language to accommodate for a near-future cut, possibly in September. President Mario Draghi’s speech will be in particular focus.
WH confirms Shanghai talks
The White House confirmed on Wednesday that US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin will be making a trip to China’s Shanghai to resume face-to-face trade negotiations starting July 30.
The Chinese government also confirmed the meetings set for next week in which Vice Premier Liu He will be taking part.
Boris staffs cabinet with ERG boys
Britain’s new PM Boris Johnson promised in his first speech as the political leader of the country to carry out Brexit on October 31 with “no ifs or buts.” Johnson, one of the leading figures behind the Leave campaign in the 2016 referendum, warned the European Union to re-negotiate a deal or face a no-deal separation.
Meanwhile, a massacre is taking place in the cabinet as 17 minister have so far either resigned or been forced out of their positions with Johnson putting like-minded anti-EU politicians in charge. One of them is Dominic Raab, a key hardliner Brexiteer, who is set to become the foreign secretary.
