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China’s top diplomat Wang Yi to meet Antony Blinken on US trip
Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat and foreign minister, will travel to the US from Thursday to Saturday to meet secretary of state Antony Blinken, the state department said on Monday evening.
The trip is scheduled about three weeks before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco and potential talks between US president Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Blinken and Wang “will discuss a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues as part of ongoing efforts to responsibly manage the US-China relationship and to maintain open channels of communication”, the state department said.
What to watch in Asia today
Events: Chinese premier Li Qiang attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The three-day Future Investment Initiative opens in Riyadh to showcase new technology companies.
Economic indicators: October purchasing managers’ indices for Australian and Japanese manufacturing and services are scheduled. South Korea issues producer price index data for September. The Bank of Japan releases core consumer price index figures for last month.
Corporate data: China National Offshore Oil Corporation and China Unicom present third-quarter earnings, as does South Korean steelmaker Posco. In Japan, Yokohama-based confectionery chain Fujiya and Osaka-based equipment maker Shimano also report third-quarter figures.
UK ministers accused of ‘betrayal’ on plan to scrap no-fault evictions
The British government’s flagship bill to shake up the housing rental market came under fire on Monday from the opposition, who said plans to end “no-fault” evictions in England were likely to be delayed for years pending glacial reforms to the courts.
Ministers confirmed last week that part of the law to prevent landlords from throwing out tenants without giving a reason would not be enforced until there had been adequate changes to the court system.
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, said the government had “betrayed renters” by striking a “grubby deal with Tory backbenchers”, adding that the decision to await court reforms kicked the removal of no-fault evictions “into the long grass”.
Nearly 7,000 union workers walk out of ‘moneymaker’ Stellantis plant
The United Auto Workers expanded their strike on Monday, with 6,800 workers walking out of Stellantis’s biggest US truck plant.
The Sterling Heights assembly plant in Michigan, which the union said is the company’s “largest plant and biggest moneymaker,” manufactures the Ram 1500.
The UAW has been on strike against the Detroit carmakers since last month, walking out of plants one by one to keep the companies off balance and preserve the strike fund. The union went on strike at Ford’s Kentucky truck plant — its most profitable — 12 days ago.
Stellantis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
US stocks notch mixed session as energy companies fall with oil prices
The S&P 500 slipped into a loss in a choppy Monday trading session, as 10-year Treasury yields pulled back from a 16-year high.
The benchmark S&P 500 fell 0.2 per cent, dragged lower by energy stocks as oil prices fell. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.3 per cent in afternoon trade, as the so-called “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks accelerated.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell 0.07 percentage points to 4.85 per cent after rising above 5 per cent earlier in the day.
Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, fell 2.5 per cent to $89.83 a barrel. The dollar fell 0.5 per cent against a basket of its peers.
Mexico’s millennial governor seeks to enter female-led presidential race
Samuel García, the 35-year-old governor of the northern Mexican state of Nuevo León, has requested a leave of absence to compete to be his party’s presidential candidate for next year’s election, potentially becoming the first male candidate to run against two female frontrunners.
García needs the approval of the state congress, which is controlled by opposition parties, to take a six-month leave.
If García secures the nomination for his Citizens’ Movement party, his entry into the race may be negative for opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez, who has so far failed to significantly dent the lead held by ruling party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum.
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