Bedugul Coffee: Thursday Morning Briefing: Beijing's South China Sea building boom fuels concerns

south china sea

At first glance from above it looks like any clean and neatly planned small town, complete with sports grounds, neat roads and large civic buildings. But the town is on Subi reef in the Spratlys archipelago of the hotly contested South China Sea and, regional security experts believe, could soon be home to China’s first troops based in the maritime heart of Southeast Asia.

Jin Wu

@jwf825

The creation of artificial land in the South China Sea usually grabs most headlines. But the pace of building work above ground is what has astonished some experts. Here's Reuters' analysis based on exclusive data and satellite imagery. https://tmsnrt.rs/2J3cWne

10:13 AM - May24, 2018

united states

The Trump administration has launched a national security investigation into car and truck imports that could lead to new U.S. tariffs similar to those imposed on imported steel and aluminum in March.

Trump welcomed the National Football League’s decision to fine teams if players on the field refuse to stand for the national anthem, saying in an interview broadcast on Friday that if they don’t want to stand maybe they should not be in the country.

Trump’s focus on North Korea's nuclear weapons – and his seeming willingness to put U.S. forces on the negotiating table – is missing Kim Jong Un's real leverage, writes Kent Harrington, a former senior analyst for the CIA. "Even without nuclear weapons, the North Korean army holds Seoul hostage."

world

Yulia Skripal survived an assassination attempt that UK authorities blame on Russia. But the daughter of one of Russia’s most famous spies says she wants to return to her country “in the longer term”, despite the poisoning. Read our exclusive interview.

Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, were honored with the PEN America 2018 Barbey Freedom to Write Award. Read more on the reporters, who have been detained in Myanmar since December 12 and are accused of violating the country's colonial-era Official Secrets Act.

Sponsored by Barclays: The fate of human jobs. Advances in technology have brought us to a tipping point. Is this the end of work as we know it? Get the report.

Business

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