September 22, 2023: Global News Roundup
An illustrated update on the global economy—Forests, infrastructure, oil, workers, lizards
The Global News Roundup collects news stories from entirely international (non-US) media sources on variety of pressing global issues and events.
Morning! Hope you’re doing well out there. I’m trying a different, more visually-appealing format today because I found some great photographs in my research and reading this week and wanted to share them with you.
The Mekong Eye reported on Monday that infrastructure projects to expand road and rail networks in Laos are taking a serious toll on forests and wildlife. “Laos has been in the spotlight due to its strategy of transforming from a land-locked to a ‘land-linked’ country. Integrated into China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Laos has accelerated the building of roads and railways to merge with global supply chains while increasing investment attraction.” The combination of forest clearing by construction crews and illegal logging are generating concern and pushback over environmental degradation, habitat destruction, and public health. The image below depicts road construction near the Luang Prabang hydropower dam site in Laos.
(Image: “Construction work stretches across the mountainside next to the Luang Prabang Hydropower Dam site, about 25km from the historic tourist town of Luang Prabang in Laos. Some trees have been cleared to make way for construction equipment and machinery. PHOTO: Anton L Delgado”, from the Mekong Eye, 9/18/2023, here.)
On Wednesday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, pictured below, sat for an interview with US-based Fox News, his first appearance on American television since 2019.
(Image: “The interview with Fox was the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's first on US TV since 2019 [File: Yousef Allan/Jordanian Royal Palace/Handout via AFP]”, from Al Jazeera, 9/20/2023, here)
Most media coverage focused on the potential for Saudi Arabia and Israel to normalize ties, as well as the likelihood of new arms and technology deals between the US and Saudi Arabia, as the Biden Administration seeks a “regional mega deal” in the Middle East in the lead up the 2024 elections. But I was personally most interested by the oil politics lurking in the background. A couple days before the Fox interview, Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman spoke before the World Petroleum Congress in Calgary and “defended OPEC+ cuts to oil market supply, saying international energy markets need light-handed regulation to limit volatility”. Since Saudi Arabia and Russia cut production earlier this month, oil prices have risen substantially, with Brent crude futures close to US$95/barrel on Monday and some forecasting $100/barrel later this fall. Related to my post last week, Saudi Arabia again appears to be “threading the needle”, leveraging its power in oil markets to maximize future concessions from the inflation-plagued US.
Along similar lines, Brazilian President Lula da Silva met with President Biden at the UN General Assembly meetings in New York on Wednesday where they announced the US-Brazil Partnership for Workers’ Rights. The two appear together in the image below.
(Image: “President Joe Biden listens to his Brazilian counterpart, Lula da Silva, on Wednesday in New York. Kevin Lamarque (Reuters)”, El País, 9/21/2023, here).
According to El País,
The non-binding partnership, which may be extended to other countries, is aimed at addressing problems such as forced labor and child labor, investor liability and discrimination in the workplace. In recent years, the United States has seen a sharp rise in migrant child labor, even in large companies.
The initiative comes as Biden seeks to win over middle-class voters ahead of the 2024 presidential election. For the past month, the U.S. president has been in campaign mode, trying to sway the middle class with speeches and electoral policies directly aimed at them.
In related news, the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike at auto plants operated by the US’s Big Three—Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis—continued this week. The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the union “has shut down just three of Detroit carmakers’ roughly 70 factories or parts distribution centers across the US — a seemingly minimalist tactic the UAW believes will maximize its leverage at the bargaining table”. The strategy “is rooted in the rolling strikes of the early US labor movement” and “experts say this approach threatens to revive the supply chain shortages that have bedeviled the auto industry in recent years, where a small disruption can cause rippling chaos in the wider system.”
The photograph below depicts striking autoworkers at a Stellantis Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio.
(Image: “Striking United Auto Workers members picket outside the Stellantis Jeep plant, in Toledo, Ohio, U.S. September 19, 2023. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook”, Reuters, 9/20/2023, here.)
Finally, and unrelated to the global economy, the Straits Times (Singapore) reported that racecar drivers and fans at the Singapore Gran Prix’s opening practice last Friday were interrupted by some unexpected, reptilian visitors:
Friday’s Formula One practice session had some surprise guests as several monitor lizards wandered onto the racetrack…
It took about 10 minutes to clear the track but just five minutes later, another lizard entered the fray. Unruffled by the roaring engines, it lingered in the middle of the road, staking its claim to the Turn 8 hairpin…
“Ah! There’s a lizard again on the track, a smaller one this time,” world champion Max Verstappen exclaimed over team radio.
“Maybe Godzilla had a kid,” a race engineer quipped in reply.
The images below depict monitor lizards on the track and a racecar driver swerving to miss them.
Things I’m keeping an eye on:
1. NATO-member Poland’s refusal to provide Ukraine with more weaponry.
2. The simmering conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan that re-erupted this week.
3. Growing tensions between Canada and India after Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau “said India may have been involved in the killing of a Canadian Sikh leader.”
4. US Congressional wrangling over Ukraine war funding and the possibility of a government shutdown.