Latest news for 9 June 2025

CHINA

Prices slump again.

Both consumer and producer prices fell in China again in May, playing into growing fears of deflation. Meanwhile, China’s official export stats recorded another 5% growth despite also clocking the steepest fall in exports to the US since 2020. (CNBC)

Comment: Ahead of the next round of US-China trade talks in London tomorrow (Tuesday), Beijing will still draw confidence from those gravity-defying export states, which (if accurate) reflect the very imbalance President Trump says he’s trying to address: the world’s heavy dependence on China.

ISRAEL

IDF boards Greta’s Gaza-bound boat.

Israeli forces have boarded the Gaza-bound Madleen, pledging to return Greta Thunberg and her fellow activists home, while distributing the vessel’s aid via established channels in Gaza. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition was protesting against Gaza's aid crisis and Israel's naval blockade of the Strip, which Israel describes as preventing Hamas from importing arms. (SMH)

INDIA

Coal is so back.

The world’s largest coal-producing company (Coal India) is planning to reopen 32 defunct mines this year, citing an inability of renewables to keep up. (FT $)

Comment: India is the world’s second-largest coal consumer (70% of its electricity mix), but tends not to attract as much international attention given it gets around three quarters of its coal from home rather than (like China) abroad. The fact Delhi is pushing its coal phase-down out to 2070 suggests it’s in no hurry to pivot.

RUSSIA

Flyers beware.

Russia briefly closed two major airports serving its capital city during Ukraine’s weekend drone counter-strikes, just a day after Moscow hit Ukraine’s second-largest city with another mass bombing raid. (Politico)

Comment: This doesn’t get airtime, but when Ukraine’s president talks about urgently bolstering his air defences, he’s talking about the US selling him more Patriot defence systems, not donating them.

CAMBODIA

Border disputes.

Days after a skirmish along the disputed Cambodian-Thai border left a Cambodian soldier dead, both sides have now agreed to retreat from their positions, and Cambodia will now fill trenches it dug last year. (Bangkok Post)

COLOMBIA

Assassination attempt rocks nation.

Miguel Uribe Turbay, a 39-year-old Colombian senator and presidential hopeful, is fighting for his life after a 15-year old hitman shot him in the head at a campaign event in Bogotá. (Miami Herald)

Comment: It’s an example not only of Colombia’s deteriorating security situation, but also the country’s increasing political polarisation: there’s not been an attempt like this since the dark days when Uribe’s own mother was kidnapped by the Medellín cartel. His conservative family (including Uribe’s ex-president grandfather) has long pushed for a tougher stance against Colombia’s organised crime and leftist rebels.

RWANDA

Bye, bye!

Rwanda has left the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), after the regional bloc thwarted Kigali’s scheduled rotating presidency over Rwanda’s continued role in backing armed groups across the DR Congo. (BBC)

Comment: The bigger question is whether Rwanda and the Congo might sign their rumoured peace agreement later this month, after seemingly endless US mediation.