In today’s bulletin: The fallout from the drone strike on two oil plants in Saudi Arabia; Kim Jong Un writes a letter inviting Donald Trump to Pyongyang; a special report on the choking haze in South-east Asia; South Korea is set to remove Japan from a trade whitelist after Japan removed it; and more.

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DRONE STRIKE ON SAUDI PLANT WREAKS HAVOC

A pre-dawn drone strike on what is considered one of the most important parts of the global oil supply chain has wreaked all manner of havoc – ratcheting up tensions between the US and Iran, and sending sending crude prices spiking. Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group claimed responsibility for the attack on two plants run by Saudi Arambco  though the US is pinning the blame on Iran. In Asia – a region that consumes more oil than anywhere else – governments condemned the attack and in some cases prepared to draw on oil reserves to make up for the short fall. The attack has highlighted just how vulnerable Saudi’s oil facilities are.

What you need to know about the Saudi oil attack:

How Asian governments are reacting to the Saudi oil attack

What’s the impact on global oil supply?

Trump says US ‘locked and loaded’ for potential response to Saudi oil attack, authorises use of emergency oil stockpile

KIM JONG UN INVITES TRUMP TO PYONGYANG

The often turbulent courtship between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took another twist today with reports that Kim sent a letter inviting Trump to visit Pyongyang. South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said in response to a question in parliament that  their US counterparts confirmed such a letter was received. The relationship between the two has been marked by it’s highly temperamental nature. One moment the two are exchanging insults, the next they are speaking like old friends. Talks appeared to have stalled after the Hanoi summit but then Trump made history by stepping across the border into North Korea during an impromptu meeting in June. Since then little progress appears to have been made but it’s hard to rule out the lure of a highly theatrical visit to Pyongyang to the US president.

Background: What happened in the one year since Trump and Kim met in Singapore

WHITELIST WARS: NOW IT’S SOUTH KOREA’S TURN TO REMOVE JAPAN

Weeks after Japan struck South Korea off its trading whitelist, South Korea is set to do the same this week. Seoul said it has completed nearly all the procedures needed for the removal of Japan from the list of countries given preferential export treatment. The move – that will add paperwork and delays for companies shipping strategic goods to Japan – marks another low point in a relationship already at an all time low over a spat about wartime labour. The spat has already spread far beyond trade, with sales of everything from Japanese cars and beer plunging in South Korea.

See also: Op-ed by Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono: The background to recent Japan-Republic of Korea disputes

SPECIAL REPORT: WHY THE HAZE IS BACK

In 2015, South-east Asia experienced a prolonged period of choking haze, as forest fires raged in Indonesia. Then came a reprieve. What had been a practically annual haze season suddenly stopped and the region breathed easy. This year, the haze is back, forcing schools shut and sending residents across the region scrambling for face masks. In a special report, Indonesia Correspondent Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh tackles some of the biggest questions about the haze – why is it back? How bad are the fires? And, most importantly, can anything really be done?

Finding a clearer way out of the haze problem

Indonesian villagers step up to fight fires with WWF’s help

Analysis by Regional Correspondent Arlina Arshad: The heat is on for region to commit to tackling haze issue

CHINA GEARS UP FOR 70th ANNIVERSARY

China will mark the 70th anniversary of Communist Party rule on Oct 1. The planned grand celebrations include a military parade and fly-bys by military planes. To ensure everything goes off without a hitch, Chinese authorities are temporarily banning other flying things from seven of Beijing’s 16 districts. That includes kites, drones and … pigeons. They are only banning captive pigeons, of course. One assumes no one has yet figured out how to ban all pigeons. As it turns out, training pigeons for races is quite a popular activity in China.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

Thai flooding: Much of Thailand’s north-eastern region remains flooded two weeks after being hit by tropical storms Podul and Kajiki, leaving 33 people dead and four provinces submerged in floodwater as deep as four metres. Authorities say it will take three weeks for the situation to return to normal in the region, which was hit only a few months ago by the worst drought in a decade.

Hong Kong: Hong Kong’s businesses and underground rail stations re-opened as usual on Monday (Sept 16) morning, after a chaotic Sunday that saw police fire water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who blocked roads and threw petrol bombs outside government headquarters.

An unlikely pact:  Malaysia’s two biggest Malay Muslim parties inked a political cooperation pact on Saturday that they hope will spur the majority community to unite against perceived threats from the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.

Brexit:  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday (Sept 15) that the next few days would be key to his chances of securing a Brexit deal, and that an agreement with the European Union was still his aim and still possible.

Big tech probe: A US House panel investigating big tech companies for potential antitrust violations is seeking information from customers of Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook about the state of competition in digital markets and the adequacy of existing enforcement.

That’s it for today. Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow.

– Jeremy

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