Hello,
Here are the five things you need to know today:
JAPAN. Takaichi smiles as Trump comes to collect the rent.
VENEZUELA. Storms, gunships, and rumours unsettle the region.
SPAIN. Junts holds Sanchez to ransom, again.
SUDAN. After recent wins, the RSF eyes a return to the capital.
CAMEROON. COTE D’IVOIRE. Leaders are returned, but not without controversy.
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JAPAN. Bald-faced ally
Takaichi smiles as Trump comes to collect the rent.
Donald Trump told Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi Japan could have “anything you want” as the two praised each other and the relationship. Takaichi gifted Trump a golden golf ball and Shinzo Abe’s putter. Abe’s alleged killer went on trial.
INTELLIGENCE. Abe and Trump got along famously, even if Japan got little in return. Takaichi, Abe’s protégé, stands to repeat the performance. And while Trump has promised her the world, it’s the US that expects to get $550 billion in new investment. The document signed today is light on details, which, for Japan, is just as well. Yet having made a “strong handshake”, as noted by Trump, Takaichi will now be on the hook, as she will in the view of her electorate.
FOR BUSINESS. Today’s meeting was all smiles, but if Trump puts pressure on Japan, whether on its investment or defence pledges, the punishment could be swift. And with the median Japanese voter unimpressed with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, now in an untested, minority coalition, the political response could likewise be pitiless. Today’s awkwardly timed trial of Abe’s alleged assassin was another reminder of deep divisions beneath the surface.
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VENEZUELA. Bracing for impact
Storms, gunships, and rumours unsettle the region.
Venezuela suspended gas supplies to Trinidad and Tobago late Monday, saying it had thwarted a “false flag” being planned with the CIA. A US destroyer docked at Port of Spain for joint exercises. Hurricane Melissa lashed the region.
INTELLIGENCE. Melissa, upgraded to a Category 5 “catastrophic” storm, is hitting