Bloomberg Daybreak Asia: Mideast Unrest, Fed Decision Preview
Oil climbed and most stocks in Asia followed losses on Wall Street as concerns mounted that an escalation of tensions in the Middle East will trigger a more direct US involvement. West Texas Intermediate crude rose as much as 1.1% in early trading Wednesday after settling at the highest in almost five months the previous day. US equity futures slipped, as did Australia's benchmark index and Hong Kong futures. Staying with geopolitics, The White House's review of the Aukus pact — a security arrangement between the US, UK and Australia — is rattling one of Washington's closest alliances, and playing right into China's hands. It sends yet another signal that America First might just mean everyone else alone. First announced by former President Joe Biden in 2021, the multibillion-dollar deal commits Washington and London to help Canberra develop a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines over a 30-year period. It was designed to help counter Beijing's growing influence in the Indo-Pacific. For more, we turn to Bloomberg Opinion columnist Karishma Vaswani. Plus - Federal Reserve officials are widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, reiterating they want more clarity on the economic impact of a wide array of government policy changes before adjusting borrowing costs. Policymakers have warned President Donald Trump's tariffs could boost inflation and unemployment, but so far, steady hiring and cooling inflation have allowed Fed officials to keep rates unchanged this year. We speak to Bill Campbell, Global Bond Portfolio Manager at DoubleLine.
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Bloomberg
11 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Israel-Iran Conflict Continues, Trump Weighs Options
00:00 What are Donald Trump's options at this point? Well, Tom, ever since President Trump left that G7 summit early to focus on the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, that has been the number one question. What are his options here? What is he thinking? Can we get insight into what is going on in President Trump's mind? We know that we had this reportedly one hour meeting with his national security team in Washington. There was no statement put out afterwards. So unclear what was discussed in that meeting. He also had a call with the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. No readout of that call either. But at this point, there is a lot of focus on some of the posts that he put out on social yesterday, and not only because of the content of what he's saying, calling for Iran's unconditional surrender, suggesting that the US know exactly where the ayatollah is. But for now, he's safe. However, at least think that in with the threats if Iran don't yield to the US terms, but also using the plural term, we are suggesting that the US are somehow already involved or even tacitly participating in the Israel campaign against Iran right now. So his options at this point are do they get actively militarily engaged as well? Do they start really deploying U.S. assets and aiding actively Israel with these airstrikes and attacks on Iran? Or do they push for the diplomatic channel and try to bring even out weakened Iranian regime with weakens military and defense capabilities in addition to nuclear capabilities to the table and try to get them to agree to terms. As previously discussed, the six rounds of U.S. Iran talks were supposed to take place on Sunday. They were canceled. In the meantime, the hostilities between Iran and Israel continue. More attacks overnight at the death toll in Iran hasn't been formally updated, but some human rights groups are saying that the death toll has climbed to more than 500, of which about 100 constitute security personnel. Some of those senior commanders in Israel, the death toll official figure is still sitting at 24. Of note, though, Tom, as well, the US embassy in Jerusalem is now closed for three days. Okay. So the conflict, of course, continues. And President Trump, as you say, weighing up what could be a monumental, potentially historic decision. What have other world leaders being saying about this conflict, about this war now, Joumanna? Yeah, well, you have to remember, President Trump on both his first term and his second term, talked about ending the, quote unquote, forever wars in the Middle East. He spoke about that when he was in Saudi Arabia just a couple of weeks ago. But it's interesting to hear that some other leaders around the world are a bit more cautious, namely because they are beginning to draw parallels between the decision to attack Iraq back in 2003 and the chaos that unfolded in Libya after military intervention there. Take a listen to what President Macron said on the sidelines of the G7 summit last night. No to military actions aimed at regime change because no one knows what comes next. Haven't we collectively seen the consequences this has had in the region and beyond? Does anyone think what was done in Iraq in 2003 was a good idea? Does anyone think that what was done in Libya last decade was a good idea? No. So the international community agreeing that Iran shouldn't develop the capability of an atomic weapon or nuclear weapon, but at the same time saying that going one step further and trying to push or externally force regime change doesn't have good results. If you take other episodes in history where that has happened in the Middle East, including in this example, President Macron talk specifically about Iraq and Libya, which is why many of the countries in the region, Arab states, the likes of Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, all of them are pushing for mediation. They're pushing to restart those diplomatic channels, condemning the acts that Israel and the actions that Israel have taken only six days ago, and saying that at this point that what they did, the military aggression, actually violates the principles of the charter of the United Nations. So there is a bigger consensus of countries out there pushing for a diplomatic solution, looking to bring down the temperature and others going as far as President Macron suggesting that if you push too hard and regime change, it could have ultimately undesired consequences and potentially even lead to chaos.
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Syniverse to team up with Aduna to expand access to network APIs
Collaboration will combine Syniverse's global enterprise messaging reach with Aduna's unified telecom API platform PLANO, Texas, June 18, 2025 /CNW/ -- Aduna, the industry's first global aggregator of network APIs, today announced a strategic partnership with Syniverse, the world's most connected company®. The collaboration will enable Syniverse to integrate with Aduna's unified API platform, which aggregates network APIs from network providers around the world to give developer platforms, like Syniverse, streamlined access to advanced network capabilities with carrier-grade performance to enable developers to build new solutions for enterprises leveraging the networks. Syniverse delivers over one trillion messages annually and serves Global 2000 enterprises across financial services, travel, retail, and media. Through this partnership, Syniverse seeks to offer its customers seamless access to powerful network APIs, including SIM Swap, Number Verification and Device Location, across a trusted, multi-operator environment. "Aduna is building the foundation for the future of programmable connectivity," said Andrew Davies, CEO of Syniverse. "This partnership allows us to offer our customers secure, real-time network intelligence at scale—accelerating digital transformation and protecting against rising fraud threats." "Syniverse brings deep CPaaS expertise, strong enterprise relationships, and strong operational scale," said Anthony Bartolo, CEO of Aduna. "Together, we're making it easier for businesses to tap into the power of the world's mobile networks through standardized, developer-friendly APIs." With Syniverse becoming a part of its growing partner ecosystem, Aduna continues to strengthen its ambition to be the go-to interface for accessing telecom network capabilities. The partnership will broaden the reach of network APIs to new markets and customer segments, while reinforcing Aduna's commitment to creating a scalable, interoperable, and developer-friendly environment. About Syniverse Syniverse is the world's most connected company. We seamlessly connect the world's networks, devices, and people so the world can unlock the full power of communications. Our secure, global technology powers the world's leading carriers, top Forbes Global 2000 companies, and billions of people, devices, and transactions every day. Our engagement platform delivers better, smarter experiences that strengthen relationships between businesses, customers, and employees. For over 30 years, we have accelerated important advances in communications technology. Today we are an essential driver of the world's adoption of intelligent connectivity, from 5G and CPaaS to IoT and beyond. Find out more at About AdunaAduna is a landmark venture between some of the world's leading telecom operators and Ericsson, dedicated to enabling developers worldwide to accelerate innovation by leveraging networks to their full potential via common network Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Its venture partners include AT&T, Bharti Airtel, Deutsche Telekom, e&, KDDI, Orange, Reliance Jio, Singtel, Telefonica, Telstra, T-Mobile, Verizon and Vodafone. Aduna's developer partner platforms include Google Cloud, Infobip, Sinch, and Vonage. By combining network APIs from multiple operators globally under a unified platform based on the CAMARA open-source project, driven by the GSMA and the Linux Foundation, Aduna provides a standardized platform to foster collaboration, enhance user experiences, and drive industry growth. To find out more about network APIs and Aduna, visit Logo - Notes to editors: Media Contact: Email: MediaRelations@ Tel: +46 10 719 69 92 View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Aduna View original content to download multimedia: Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Cost of household staple that increased 20 per cent set to jump again
Step into any supermarket and you can buy a grinder full of black pepper for less than $5. But the household staple is set to become more scarce over the next 18 months, and while Aussies won't have any problem finding it on shelves, prices are already increasing for wholesalers. Ian Hemphill, the founder of the iconic Aussie brand Herbie's Spices, is paying 20 per cent more for pepper than he was five months ago. But it's a problem he expects to see with the various spices he purchases because they are agricultural commodities that can be impacted by the weather. A key reason for the price increase is a lack of rain where the crop is primarily harvested — India, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. 'The main thing that will affect pepper is when you get a poor monsoon,' Hemphill told Yahoo News. 'When you get a good monsoon, you'll have a spike of green pepper corns that look like a luscious bunch of grapes, but when it's poor, you have fewer berries forming.' Related: Pepper grinders sold at supermarkets have major problem There have always been fluctuations in the spice trade, which merchants lovingly refer to as the 'world's second oldest profession'. In the late 1990s, vanilla plantations in Madagascar were hit with severe storms, and the farm-gate price jumped by 1,300 per cent over two years. Experts at the independent think tank, the Climate Council, expect consumers in Australia to face more fluctuations in grocery prices as the climate continues to warm and traditional weather patterns destabilise. Its economist Nicki Hutley predicts significant and permanent increases in costs as weather patterns change. This could mean growing more crops in hothouses, embracing lab-grown meat, or raising animals in sheds rather than paddocks. 'We're going to have to get smarter around farming. But this doesn't necessarily mean groceries will be cheaper, in fact it will be the opposite,' she said. 'We'll still get a lot of volatility. You can't grow everything in a greenhouse at the scale we need.' Extreme weather events are a constant around the world. After the March floods, Queensland alone is believed to have lost more than 100,000 head of livestock. At the same time, parts of Victoria, NSW, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania are experiencing record-breaking drought, forcing farmers to hand-feed their animals with hay and grains, which are surging in price. Sadly, the problem is set to get worse. Countries like Australia and the United States are continuing to extract fossil fuels from the ground. Australia just approved an extension of its second-largest fossil fuel project in history, the North-West Shelf, which is set to release billions of tonnes of carbon-like emissions into the atmosphere over its lifetime. The world could reach 2 degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels in just 15 years, making droughts, floods and cyclones more severe and frequent than they are today. 💰 Woolworths responds to glaring pricing issue as Aussie neighbour loses out 🛒 Coles, Woolworths, Aldi reveal fate of 11,000 tonnes of soft plastics 🚨 281 experts call for ban of 'toxic' product sold at Coles, Bunnings, Woolworths, Mitre 10 But there are other factors also expected to contribute to price fluctuations. Pepper continues to be the world's most traded and consumed spice, and demand remains constant. Despite technology advances in other farming sectors like viticulture and wheat, pepper continues to be mostly picked by hand. And in the long-term, Hemphill believes its price will be impacted by increasing labour costs. Other price influences will be harder to predict. For instance, Hemphill has seen a surge of interest in pepper because it's a key ingredient in turmeric, a power that's been embraced as a popular health drink in Australia. Another factor that doesn't affect the farm-gate price but increases the cost to merchants is shipping. Due to recent conflict in the Middle East, the price of importing a container to Australia has more than doubled. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
