Shelling Kills Cambodians, Struck Thai Homes In Escalating Border Clash

Following is the text of the Reserve Bank of Australia's statement on Tuesday after its monthly monetary policy meeting. At its meeting today, the Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 3.60 per cent. While inflation has fallen substantially since its peak in 2022, it has picked up more recently. The Board's judgement is that some of the recent increase in underlying inflation was due to temporary factors and there is uncertainty about how much signal to take from the monthly CPI data given it is a new data series.

Nevertheless, the data do suggest some signs of a more broadly based pick-up in inflation, part of which may be persistent and will bear close monitoring. Economic activity continues to recover. Growth in private demand has strengthened, driven by both consumption and investment. Activity and prices in the housing market are also continuing to pick up.

Financial conditions have eased since the beginning of the year, credit is readily available to both households and businesses and the effects of earlier interest rate reductions are yet to flow through fully to demand, prices and wages. On the other hand, money market interest rates and government bond yields have risen more recently. Various indicators suggest that labour market conditions remain a little tight. The unemployment rate has risen gradually over the past year and employment growth has slowed. However, measures of labour underutilisation remain at low rates, surveyed measures of capacity utilisation are above their long-run average and business surveys and liaison continue to suggest that a significant share of firms are experiencing difficulty sourcing labour.

Wages growth, as measured by the Wage Price Index, has eased from its peak but broader measures of wages continue to show strong growth and growth in unit labour costs remains high. There are uncertainties about the outlook for domestic economic activity and inflation and the extent to which monetary policy remains restrictive. On the domestic side, the pick-up in momentum has been stronger than anticipated, particularly in the private sector. If this continues, it is likely to add to capacity pressures.

Uncertainty in the global economy remains significant but so far there has been minimal impact on overall growth and trade in Australia's major trading partners. Decision The recent data suggest the risks to inflation have tilted to the upside, but it will take a little longer to assess the persistence of inflationary pressures. Private demand is recovering. Labour market conditions still appear a little tight but further modest easing is expected. The Board therefore judged that it was appropriate to remain cautious, updating its view of the outlook as the data evolve. The Board will be attentive to the data and the evolving assessment of the outlook and risks to guide its decisions.

In doing so, it will pay close attention to developments in the global economy and financial markets, trends in domestic demand, and the outlook for inflation and the labour market. The Board is focused on its mandate to deliver price stability and full employment and will do what it considers necessary to achieve that outcome. Today's policy decision was unanimous.

Source: TradingView

European Union (EU) members and Parliament reached a deal on Tuesday to cut corporate sustainability laws, after months of pressure from companies and governments, including the United States and Qatar.

The changes, which would weaken such rules for a large majority of businesses now covered, come in response to criticism from some industries that EU red tape and strict regulation hindered competitiveness with foreign rivals.

"This is an important step towards our common goal to create a more favourable business environment to help our companies grow and innovate," Denmark's European Affairs Minister Marie Bjerre said in a statement.

The agreement was a very good compromise, added Jorgen Warborn, a Swedish centre-right lawmaker.

The push to weaken the laws had dismayed environmental campaigners, some investors and governments, including that of Spain, which had urged Brussels to keep the rules intact to support European priorities on sustainability and human rights.

The EU's corporate sustainability reporting directive (CSRD) requires companies to disclose details of their environmental and social impact, so as to be more transparent to investors and consumers.

EU negotiators agreed that such reporting will cover only companies with more than 1,000 employees and annual net turnover exceeding 450 million euros (US$524 million, or RM2.16 billion), down from about 50,000 companies with more than 250 employees now.

For non-EU firms, the threshold was set at 450 million euros in turnover generated within the bloc.

The deal limits the EU's corporate sustainability due diligence directive (CSDDD) to only the largest EU corporations, which have more than 5,000 employees and annual turnover exceeding 1.5 billion euros.

The same rules will cover non-EU companies with turnover in the EU above that level.

The European Union has also dropped a clause for companies to adopt climate transition plans under the directive.

The United States and Qatar have pressured Brussels to scale back the due diligence law, warning that the rules risked disrupting liquefied natural gas trade with Europe.

EU co-legislators also agreed to cap penalties for non-compliance at 3% of companies' global turnover, with guidelines to follow from the Commission, and compliance required by July 2029.

Companies such as Exxon Mobil, as well as the leaders of Germany and France, had sought deeper cuts, including scrapping the due diligence law entirely, saying it hurt the competitiveness of European businesses.

The EU Parliament and EU countries must each give formal approval for the changes to become law, usually a formality that waves through pre-agreed deals.

Source: Theedgemarkets

An employee works to produce artificial Christmas trees at a factory in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, China, April 9, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

China's Premier Li Qiang said on Tuesday the "mutually destructive consequences of tariffs have become increasingly evident" over 2025, in remarks at a "1+10 Dialogue" including the heads of the IMF, World Trade Organization and World Bank.

Without naming U.S. President Donald Trump, China's second-highest ranking official told the meeting in Beijing that greater effort was needed to reform global economic governance due to the trade barriers.

China's trade surplus topped $1 trillion for the first time in November, trade data showed on Monday, which economists say is linked to Trump's tariffs diverting shipments from the world's second-largest economy to other markets, putting pressure on manufacturing sectors in those economies.

"Since the beginning of the year, the threat of tariffs has loomed over the global economy," Li told the meeting, which also includes senior officials from the OECD and International Labour Organization.

Li also said artificial intelligence is becoming central to trade, highlighting models such as China's DeepSeek as drivers of the global transformation of traditional industries and as catalysts for growth in new sectors, including smart robots and wearable devices.

Source: Reuters

A Political and Economic Inflection Point

Source of Relief Funds and Legal Ambiguity

Corporate and Retail Reaction: Preparing for Refunds and Legal Fallout

Political Motivations and Policy Reactions: Inflation, Price Fixing, and the 2026 Election

Loosening Environmental Regulations on Equipment Makers

International Responses and Trade Spillovers: Mexico and the UK

Japan’s GDP Contraction and the Global Trade Fallout

Source: Yahoo Finance

Chinese foreign investment in green power jumped to $80 billion in the past year as Beijing leveraged its dominance in energy transition technologies, according to Climate Energy Finance.

The funds were pledged in the year through November 2025, the Australian-based think tank said in a report released on Sunday, and compare with $100 billion of investment over the previous two years.

US President Donald Trump's aggressive trade tariffs and shifting geopolitical policies have prompted many developing countries to deepen ties with China, while Washington's hostility to clean energy has also played into Beijing's hands. Even before the US's pullback, China already dominated sectors like wind, solar and electric vehicle batteries.

"The clean-tech economy represents a flourishing form of South-South cooperation, where national development goals meet China's techno-industrial might," Caroline Wang, an analyst at CEF, said in the report. "While the US sees China's rise as a threat, many developing countries are inspired by its success and aim to emulate it."

Southeast Asia remains the top destination for Chinese clean-technology capital, CEF said, without giving a regional breakdown of the numbers. Major projects include a $6 billion battery plant in Indonesia being jointly developed by Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., Indonesia Battery Corp., and PT Aneka Tambang. The Middle East and North Africa have emerged as the fastest-growing regions for Chinese investment in the battery and solar sectors, according to the Australian think tank.

Countries are offering various incentives to attract Chinese clean-tech investment – from competitive tax rates to fast-tracked project approvals – with a focus on building local manufacturing capacity, boosting employment, and facilitating joint-venture projects with local partners, Wang said.

More first-time car buyers in China want to buy battery electric vehicles over other types of powertrains, due to their affordability, range of models and improved charging, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence survey.

Mexico's Congress is set to vote this week on President Claudia Sheinbaum's proposed tariffs on China, part of a broader plan to shield local producers and ease trade tensions with the US.

As military tensions between China and Japan reach the highest level in more than a decade, the sparsely populated island of Yonaguni finds itself right on the front lines. Up and down the 160-strong Ryukyu island chain, Japan is quickly putting in place missile batteries, radar towers, ammunition storage sites and other combat facilities

Source: Bloomberg Europe

Nvidia's CEO has been lobbying for export permissions to China [FILE: August 2025]

The United States will allow chip giant Nvidia to export its advanced artificial intellegence chips to China, US President Donald Trump said on Monday, after he reached an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Nvidia is currently the largest US company by market value, having quickly risen with the AI wave.

The announcement marks a notable shift in US' tech export policy, especially for advanced AI chips. Former US President Joe Biden's government had heavily restricted the sale of advanced chips to China over concerns of its applications in the Chinese military.

Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social, saying he had informed Xi that Washington would permit Nvidia to export its H200 products to "approved customers" in China and other countries, "under conditions that allow of continued strong National Security."

"President Xi responded positively! 25% will be paid to the United States of America," he wrote, adding that the move would benefit US taxpayers, increase jobs and strengthen US manufacturing.

A White House spokesperson clarified that the 25% fee would be an import tax from Taiwan where the chips are made. They will be imported to the US for a security review before being exported to China.

Most advanced chips not part of the deal

The US president assured that the nation would maintain its lead in AI as US customers were already moving to the highly advanced Blackwell chips, followed by the next generation Rubin chips, "neither of which are part of this deal."

"Offering H200 to approved customers, vetted by the Department of Commerce, strikes a thoughtful balance that is great for America," Nvidia said in a statement. Its Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang has long lobbied the White House to reverse the Biden-era policy of restricting China's access to powerful chips.

Jensen Huang's Nvidia is currently the largest US company by market value [FILE: October 2025]Image: Jung Yeon-je/AFP

Trump said the Department of Commerce was finalizing the details but the "same approach will apply to AMD, Intel, and other GREAT American Companies."

Democrats sound alarm bells

Several Democrats in the US Senate reacted to the deal by issuing a statement, "calling it a colossal economic and national security failure."

"Access to these chips would give China's military transformational technology to make its weapons more lethal, carry out more effective cyberattacks against American businesses and critical infrastructure and strengthen their economic and manufacturing sector," the lawmakers said.

The senators cited a recent statement by Chinese AI company DeepSeek, which said the lack of access to advanced US-designed chips was their biggest challenge in competing withe American AI companies like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and Perplexity.

Meanwhile, Washington-based Institute for Progress' Alex Stapp, called the policy a "massive own goal," in a football reference. He said the H200 was "6x more powerful than the H20, which was previously the most powerful chip approved for export."

The deal's announcement comes days after Massacheusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, alluded to a backroom arrangement between Trump and Huang which involved a donation to build the East Wing Ballroom at the White House.

"I'm asking Microsoft, Nvidia, Meta, Apple, Amazon, Union Pacific, and Comcast about their donations to Trump's 'Big Gold Ballroom'," she said in a post on X.

Ball in China's court

China does not currently allow its companies to use US technologies, making it unclear if Trump's announcement will prompt a policy change in Beijing.

"Chinese firms want H200s, but the Chinese state is driven by paranoia and pride — paranoia about backdoors and dependence on US chips, and pride in pushing domestic alternatives," said Craig Singleton, a senior fellow at the Washington think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

"Washington may approve the chips, but Beijing still has to let them in," he added.

Source: DW