Bhinneka News Online: Friday Morning Briefing: China urges U.S. to pull back from the 'brink'

Friday, 23 March 2018

Friday Morning Briefing: China urges U.S. to pull back from the 'brink'

Highlights

China urged the United States to “pull back from the brink” as President Donald Trump’s plans for tariffs on up to $60 billion in Chinese goods moved the world’s two largest economies closer to a trade war. The escalating tensions sent shivers through financial markets as investors foresaw dire consequences for the global economy if trade barriers start going up.

The U.S. Congress voted to approve a $1.3 trillion government funding bill with large increases in military and non-defense spending, sending it to Trump, who was expected to sign it into law.

Trump shook up his foreign policy team again, replacing H.R. McMaster as national security adviser with John Bolton, a hawk who has advocated using military force against North Korea and Iran.

World

Several European governments moved closer to expelling Russian diplomats in a show of support for Britain, which ordered out 23 “undeclared intelligence agents” after a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy.

At least one person was killed when a man took hostages in a supermarket in the southwestern French town of Trebes, the mayor told BFM TV. Another person was hurt but their condition was not known, Mayor Eric Menassi said.

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A Syrian rebel group in one besieged eastern Ghouta pocket said it would try to negotiate an end to an army assault there, while insurgents in another nearby enclave withdrew.

Dan Williams

@DanWilliams

Britain urges Israel to improve treatment of detained Palestinian children http://reut.rs/2pBsByp

8:40 AM - MAR 23, 2018

Tech

Commentary: Here's one way to help Facebook protect data

Companies like Facebook are as vital to modern life as highways, airplanes and rail lines, writes Matt Laslo. For that reason, the U.S. federal government needs to designate them as critical national infrastructure and help them protect users' data. "At the very least that could renew trust in these companies, but it would also be in their own self-interest because when they’re breached again - and it will happen again - then they can pass the blame up the chain to Washington, where it rightfully belongs."

7 min read