Covid contagions rise in India, Saudi Arabia, UAE

Today's headlines: Chinese real estate giant Evergrande suspends sales on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Trade tensions mount between Vietnam and Beijing. Singapore's GDP rebounds. Inflation skyrockets in Turkey. Moon Jae-in aims at peace with North Korea. The U.S. will help Ukraine in case of Russian invasion.

INDIA-MIDDLE EAST

Covid-19 infections in India have risen significantly for the fifth consecutive day,. Yesterday, the country exceeded 27,000 infections while the Omicron variant continues to spread. Cases also rose in Saudi Arabia (more than 1,000) and the United Arab Emirates (2,600): between September and October they had fallen below 100 in both countries. 

CHINA

Evergrande has suspended trading its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. At risk of bankruptcy, the Chinese construction giant has a debt of over 300 billion dollars; to repay the liabilities, the company has put property and securities up for sale. Its eventual collapse is seen as a risk to the national economy.

VIETNAM-CHINA

Tensions are mounting on the Vietnam-China border. Hanoi is demanding Beijing ease the blockade on the entry of its goods into neighboring Guangxi. A new outbreak of Covid  has been reported in the Chinese province, but the Vietnamese authorities consider their Chinese counterpart's security measures excessive.

SINGAPORE

Singapore's economy saw a rebound of more than 7% in 2021, recovering from a -5.4% rebound in 2020 marked by the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.

TURKEY

Turkey is experiencing Skyrocketing iinflation. It rose 36% last month compared to December 2020. It is the highest figure since 2002, caused by the continuous depreciation of the national currency. The rise in prices is affected by the new cuts in interest rates wanted - not without internal controversy - by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

KOREA

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has promised a final push for peace with North Korea. Moon's term expires this year; he is proposing that Pyongyang, China and the United States adopt a declaration that would officially end the 1950-53 conflict.

UKRAINE-RUSSIA

U.S. President Joe Biden told his Kiev counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy yesterday that Washington would respond decisively in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Tens of thousands of Russian troops have been massed on the Ukrainian border for over a month; pro-Russian separatists have controlled parts of eastern Ukraine since 2014. Shortly before, Moscow had occupied Crimea.