Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: President Donald Trump is considering replacing White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. No timeline, successor or reason for the potential change was given. Wiles has served as Trump’s chief of staff since his return to the White House.

TREE NEWS update: China’s civil aviation sector will operate its 2026 winter-spring flight schedule from October 25, 2026 to March 27, 2027, with airlines adding and increasing flights to popular winter destinations. As of October 15, planned domestic flights to and from Urumqi are up about 10% year on year, with planned flights to Harbin and Sanya also rising.

TREE NEWS update: German Chancellor Merz, Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez, Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson and Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis were among EU member state leaders who raised objections to the bloc’s 2028-2034 long-term budget plan at an EU summit in Brussels on the 15th. The leaders voiced doubts and opposition to the proposal during the meeting.

TREE NEWS update: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on October 15 that Russian forces used more than 850 attack drones against Ukraine, in strikes running from midnight local time on October 14 until 9 a.m. the following day. The figure marks a sustained, large-scale drone assault over roughly 33 hours.

TREE NEWS reports: JPMorgan said it is keeping its base-case target for the CSI 300 index at 5,200 points for the end of 2026, unchanged from its previous forecast. The bank cited optimism over corporate earnings growth prospects as the reason for holding the level.

TREE NEWS reports: The US 10-year Treasury yield extended its decline on the latest reading, falling 11 basis points to 5.08%. The move extends a downward run in the benchmark yield.

TREE NEWS reports: Bitcoin slid to $80.1K on Thursday as South Korea’s KOSPI Index closed 7.5% lower, its weakest close since April. The move extended contagion from a Korean tech sell-off into crypto markets, with the benchmark equity index’s decline tracking alongside bitcoin’s drop.

TREE NEWS update: Denmark’s foreign ministry said on October 14 that the agreement signed in September by the US, Denmark and Greenland gives Washington no preferential access to the territory’s natural resources, responding to President Trump’s claim a day earlier that the US was about to begin large-scale resource exploration there. Any American exploration must take place within Greenland’s legal framework, the ministry said.

TREE NEWS reports: Global bond yields have climbed to multi-decade highs, and Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi warned that if rates stay at current levels or higher for another one or two quarters, AI could be the first part of the economy to break. Goldman economists estimate high rates will drag 2027 US GDP growth by about 0.2 percentage points, widening past 0.5 points if yields hold. Goldman strategists see banks and equities as manageable for now.

TREE NEWS update: India’s trade minister said negotiations between India and the United States are moving in the right direction. The remarks signal continued engagement between the two governments on trade issues. No further details on the scope or timing of the talks were provided.

TREE NEWS reports: Eurozone industrial production fell 1.1% year-on-year in August, against expectations of a 0.1% rise and a prior reading of 0%. The print marks a sharp miss for the bloc’s factory sector, with output swinging from flat to contraction.

TREE NEWS update: Japanese Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Minoru Kiuchi said fiscal sustainability is the premise of the government’s policy. The statement, made in his capacity as economy and fiscal policy minister, frames fiscal discipline as a precondition rather than an afterthought for Japan’s policy stance. No further details or figures were provided.

TREE NEWS reports: The EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council are expected to postpone a major political summit in Riyadh as host Saudi Arabia comes under attack from Yemen’s Houthi forces. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said Thursday that the October 24 meeting will likely be delayed, possibly for security reasons. Some Gulf officials have told European counterparts they will likely postpone, sources said.

TREE NEWS update: Eurozone industrial production figures for August are scheduled for release at 17:00 Beijing time, a data point that will feed into assessments of the bloc’s manufacturing activity. The print covers output across the currency area’s industrial sector for the month. No forecast was given in the schedule notice.

TREE NEWS update: Iran said the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is at grave risk. The comment, attributed to Iranian officials, described the accord as hanging in the balance. No further details or specific policy measures were given.

TREE NEWS update: Ukraine said Starlink internet service has been restored, after disruptions to the satellite network used widely by Ukrainian forces and civilians. The restoration was announced by Ukrainian authorities, who did not give a reason for the earlier outage or specify how long service was down. Starlink, operated by SpaceX, has been a critical communications link in Ukraine since the war began.

TREE NEWS update: UK Chancellor John Healey said the budget must acknowledge the pressure facing businesses and households, and that it will stay on its established path as urged by the International Monetary Fund. He also said now is the time to increase pressure on Vladimir Putin.

TREE NEWS update: UK Chancellor John Healey said the banking sector is one of the jewels in the British economy’s crown, adding that the budget will comply with fiscal rules and follow the path urged by the International Monetary Fund. He said UK growth is resilient and the budget will protect it, while past speculation over the budget has caused substantial damage. He said spending must be controlled and the deficit reduced, and the budget will give households as much breathing room as possible.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Commerce opened a public consultation on the EU’s trade and investment policies ahead of the WTO’s 16th Trade Policy Review of the bloc, scheduled for December 8 and 10, 2026. The review will examine EU policy shifts since 2023 and their impact. Companies, industry associations and research institutes have until November 15 to submit written or electronic comments to the ministry’s WTO department.

TREE NEWS reports: Richemont and Signet Jewelers are in talks to join the Global Diamond Consortium led by former De Beers CEO Gareth Penny, which is seen as a leading contender to acquire diamond miner De Beers, five people familiar with the matter said. The negotiations are at an advanced stage, though it is not guaranteed the two groups will ultimately join.