| | | | Israel's Strike and Syria's Multipolar War | | Israel's strike on Iranian sites in Syria, after an Iranian missile was fired at the Golan Heights, marks an escalation in the proxy nature of Syria's war, which global powers and regional players have all shaped.
It also shows why Israel appeared less than thrilled with President Trump's withdrawal from a war on its border: Israel and Iran are now in "open conflict" in Syria, Haaretz columnist Anshel Pfeffer writes, with neither the US nor Russia doing much to control the situation. | | China's Economy: Too Big to Fail | | China announced its slowest yearly GDP growth rate since 1990—6.6% in 2018—and global markets fell, seeming to indicate the West's fortunes are indeed tied to China's.
As China's economy weighs more and more heavily on global projections, an IMF report today identifies slower Chinese growth—along with Brexit—as key global risks. Things could get worse for China (and, by extension, everyone else), "especially" if trade tensions escalate with the US. | | No-Deal Brexit: A Customs Headache for Everyone | | | Britain wouldn't be the only country affected by a no-deal Brexit, for which Guardian columnist John Harris finds some support, built on the same defiance that fueled Brexit in the first place: EU countries with lots of movement to and from the UK will have to cope, too.
Germany's customs chief is eyeing an addition of 900 customs officers and cites "more work to do" in sorting through UK goods entering. It's a reminder of the logistical nightmare that could unfold on both sides of the Channel. | | France Drops the Privacy Hammer on Google | | France has hit Google with a $57 million fine, the largest ever issued by the country's data-protection agency and the first major fine for a US tech giant under Europe's 2018 data-protection regulation. The reason: Google made it too hard for users to understand what data was being collected, and how it was being used to personalize ads, and failed to gain sufficient consent.
It might be small potatoes compared to the EU's $5 billion fine over Android app restrictions, but it signals a willingness to crack down over data privacy—and that Europe is still leading the way in regulating big tech companies. | | | | | | |
