Todd Blanche, yen intervention and Russian holidays
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hi, I'm Kim Vinnell in Whanganui, New Zealand. It's Monday, August 3rd. Today, Japan and Washington take joint action on the yen to try and stop its slide to 40-year lows. How the U.S. 's decades-old support for Israel is impacting the Democrats. And on Russia's holiday coast, Reuters finds fuel shortages, falling visitors and growing anxiety. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. But first, we have some breaking news. For more, here's my colleague Tara Oakes.
Thanks, Kim. Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche has officially terminated President Donald Trump's so-called anti-weaponization fund. It paves the way for Blanche's confirmation ahead of a key Senate committee vote on Tuesday after Republican senators stalled his nomination over concerns about the fund. A spokesperson for one of those senators, John Cornyn, has confirmed the agreement. You can read more about this developing story on Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Now back to Kim for more of the latest news.
Japan's finance minister, Satsuki Katayama, confirming Tokyo and the US have carried out a coordinated yen buying intervention. It's a rare move to try and stop the yen slide to fresh 40-year lows and stop that from causing global spillover. So what does it all mean? Here's Mike Dolan from our sister podcast, Morning Bid.
Yeah, it's an extraordinary move by US and Japanese authorities to intervene jointly to prop up the ailing yen. It was at 40-year lows last week, which if you're a tourist going to Japan, that makes it a very attractive destination and has done for many people. But for Japanese people, it's very unpopular. It's inflationary, particularly at a time when oil prices are rising. And the Japanese themselves have been trying to stabilize the yen for some time on their own. So why has the US joined them? Well, The rising dollar is not good for U.S. trade with Japan, and there is a concern that it gets and destabilizes world financial markets generally. So I think the U.S. has joined and has spent at least some money, not as much as the Japanese have done, but it is a signaling mechanism to show the market that this isn't
a one-way ticket that there is a risk to going short of the yen at this particular juncture. Does it matter? Is there spillover effects? There is a risk that Japan sells dollars and in doing so liquidates some of its U.S. Treasury bonds. And it is the U.S. Treasury's biggest overseas creditor. But there is a mechanism that the U.S. has agreed with Japan that they can recycle some of those dollars without doing so. So we'll see how that pans out. But in a historic moment,
Thanks, Mike. You can catch Morning Bid wherever you get your podcasts. U.S. President Donald Trump says negotiations with Iran will restart this afternoon. Speaking on board Air Force One, Trump says he was asked to hold off on renewed attacks, which he said would have been the biggest since World War II.
What breaking development led to Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche rescinding the anti-weaponization fund?
I was asked to by Saudi Arabia, by UAE, and by Qatar, and by Iran. We were all set to go just about at this time right now, and it would have been a massive attack.
It's unclear what form the renewed negotiations will take, and Trump has declined to set a deadline for an agreement.
And the reason they asked is I think there's a deal. There's a deal on hormones, and then there will be a deal on the nuclear, or you might call it the denuclearization of Iran.
Why does terminating the fund pave the way for Todd Blanche's Senate confirmation?
Iran's official news agency reported on Sunday that negotiations between Tehran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz are in their final stages. In Teuta, Spanish police, some holding batons and riot shields, chase a group of migrants in an apparent effort to disperse them. The group, who were carrying an injured man, drop him so they can run. The man, lying shaking uncontrollably on a blanket, is eventually attended to by police. It's been a few days since more than 50,000 people surged into the Spanish enclave of Teuta from Morocco, some by jumping fences, others by swimming.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–3:31
2
What breaking development led to Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche rescinding the anti-weaponization fund?
3:31–4:05
3
Why does terminating the fund pave the way for Todd Blanche's Senate confirmation?
4:05–8:07
4
Why did Japan and the US carry out a coordinated yen-buying intervention?
8:07–10:05
Speakers
6 identifiedMore from Reuters World News
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