US House Speak elections, no apparent links in US terror attacks and dockworker strike talks. Plus, Syria’s interim government starts diplomatic outreach. Andrew Sheves Good morning and Happy Friday. Some headlines to set you up for the weekend. 🚢 US dockworkers held off from striking over Christmas but that deal expires on January 15th. Talks begin next week to avoid a dockworker strike and automation will be a major theme issue to resolve. [More - Bloomberg] ...
New Year attacks in the US and Russian gas stops flowing to Europe Andrew Sheves Good morning. It’s an abbreviated SITREP today, but there are two stories worth tracking. There were two apparent terrorist attacks in the US. In New Orleans, a driver deliberately drove into a crowd celebrating New Year, killing 15. While in Las Vegas the driver of a vehicle detonated his Cybertruck outside the Trump Tower killing himself but no others. [More - Bloomberg] ...
Happy New Year! Andrew Sheves Good morning and a Happy New Year from windy Washington, DC. Wishing you a successful, safe and fulfilling 2025. Just the numbers and regional info today and tomorrow, but the full SITREP will be back on Friday and next week I’ll be sharing the 2025 look-ahead. Key Metrics WTI is $70.38 (Down) Low |— < —————-| High Wheat is $185.735 (Down) Low |—— < ————-| High ...
German Chancellor condemns Musk’s AfD support, Chinese hackers infiltrate the US Treasury and gang violence in Trinidad and Tobago Andrew Sheves Good morning. Two quick headlines today. 🇩🇪 The outgoing German chancellor, Olas Scholz, has condemned Elon Musk’s support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, accusing him of election interference. In addition to his support for Donald Trump and the AfD, Musk also supports the UK’s anti-immigration Reform Party. [SOURCE - Bloomberg] ...
Russia admits to downing a civilian airliner, grim end of year conflict statistics and RIP Jimmy Carter Andrew Sheves Good morning, and welcome to the last Monday of 2024. Some weekend headlines and stories that might have slipped by over the last week. Russia admitted that an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed on December 25th was hit by Russian anti-aircraft fire. The Azeri President has accepted that this was an accident, but it highlights the danger for airlines operating near conflict zones, even where there is no official airspace warning in place. [SOURCE - Bloomberg] ...
Africa summary Andrew Sheves Good morning and Happy Friday. Just the metrics and the regional report today. Need Help Crisis Planning? It’s the end of the year, and everyone is writing their ‘Top Risks of 2025,’ which means we’ll be hearing terms like poly-crisis and permacrisis far too much. The problem is that these terms can be paralyzing: the problems are so big, it’s hard to know where to start. ...
Pro-Assad Resistance in Syria and Russia Targeting Transnistria (Again) Andrew Sheves Good morning. It’s an abbreviated SITREP today, but there are two stories worth tracking. Despite the calm in the majority of Syria following the HTS takeover, several majority Alawite towns in Syria remain pro-Assad strongholds. An ambush on Tuesday left 14 HTS-affiliated police dead and 10 wounded as the police tried to arrest a former regime figure. Currently, this doesn’t seem to indicate the beginnings of a counter-HTS insurgency, but it is a reminder that Syria remains somewhat fractured and that many of the former-regime figures are implicated in Assad’s crimes and will do whatever they can to avoid capture. [SOURCE - BBC] ...
Happy Chrismukkah 🎅 🕎 Andrew Sheves Good morning. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to those celebrating. Just the numbers and regional info today. Key Metrics WTI is $71.03 (Down) Low |—- < —————| High Wheat is $185.735 (Down) Low |—— < ————-| High EuroDollar is $1.04 (Down) Low | < ——————-| High YuanDollar is $0.14 (Unchanged) Low |———- < > ———| High Graphs are illustrative to show comparative price over last 180 days ...
New French Cabinet: plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose Andrew Sheves Good morning. Greetings from Aberdeen, Scotland, where we’re enjoying a whopping 6 ½ hours of daylight today…. Two headlines from Europe are worth tracking as a taster of what things will look like in 2025. In France, Prime Minister François Bayrou selected Eric Lombard as finance minister, tasked with finding a budget to satisfy all parties in a divided French parliament. Budget concerns were the stated reason for France’s opposition parties bringing down the previous government, so finding an acceptable solution is key for France’s stability, but the view is that Bayrou / Lombard will not significantly differ from the previous government. [SOURCE - Financial Times] ...
Shutdown looms in DC and US Diplomats in Damascus Andrew Sheves Good morning and Happy Friday. Two quick updates to kick us off. The US government seems headed for a shutdown as House Republicans scuttled their own stopgap bill on Thursday night. This follows their rejection of a long-negotiated bipartisan spending bill after opposition from Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Government funding runs out at midnight. [SOURCE - Bloomberg] In another positive step in Syria’s transition, US representatives have met with the HTS-led interim government in Syria. [SOURCE - BBC] ...