Hurdles

• South Korea is launching ambitious megaprojects to expand its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and establish a new semiconductor manufacturing hub in the southwestern region. • President Lee Jae Myung, Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won recently convened at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul to outline these strategic developments. • Despite the government's push, the initiatives face significant obstacles, specifically regarding labor shortages and insufficient infrastructure required to support high-tech scaling.

At one stage the northern mayor looked to be locked out of parliament, again, but he is still only one step along the road to his No 10 ambitionsFor weeks, Andy Burnham’s supporters had told MPs to “hold the line”, that he had a seat in parliament in his sights and that he would be a contender in any leadership contest. That was never the full truth.His path to No 10 – if he makes it – is littered with more failed attempts than almost any other politician. Two leadership contests, a block on a return in Gorton and Denton, and quite a few aggrieved MPs in the north west who have had to spend weeks batting off suggestions they will give their seats up for him. Continue reading...

• Brent crude futures rose 88 cents or 0.9% to $102.15 a barrel, while WTI advanced $1.12 or 1.2% to $96.20, trimming prior 7% losses after US President Donald Trump called direct talks with Iran premature. • A senior Iranian lawmaker dismissed the US peace proposal as a 'wish list' rather than practical, amid demands to halt Tehran's nuclear program and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. • Markets assess if Middle East peace efforts will succeed, with strategist Hiroyuki Kikukawa noting discussions may continue until the US-China summit but uncertainty persists afterward.

US president will need to show heavy costs of war were worthwhile while Iran must choose between instant and delayed gratification Middle East crisis – live updatesIf talks between Iran and the US reconvene within the next few days in Islamabad, Donald Trump will have two major political hurdles to overcome – first showing that any deal he secures is better than the one signed by Barack Obama in 2015 and from which he withdraw in 2018, and secondly proving the deal is more favourable than the one on offer in Geneva in February before he launched his war.Otherwise he will have inflicted massive damage on the world economy when alternatives were available that were less costly in blood and treasure. He will also have to show that Iran has made no permanent gain by taking control of shipping passing through the strait of Hormuz. These are the yardsticks, or tests, around which his negotiating team will be keeping an anxious eye. Continue reading...