Not a lot of direct market news this weekend so far, but plenty of pollie waffle (talk from politicians, that is ... although it has a related meaning in Australia, perhaps we might get an explanation in the comments)
Trump has been getting the headlines with his travel bans, but elsewhere ...
(Each headline is a link for more, the main gist is in the bullets though)
France's Hollande warns Trump against protectionism:
- French President Francois Hollande said France was committed to the United Nations, that the NATO military alliance was indispensable and the European Union should be reinforced
- Said sanctions against Russia should be lifted only when the situation in eastern Ukraine was resolved
Merkel, Hollande call for European unity in face of big challenges
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande
- Need for European unity in the face of growing internal and external threats, including the rise of populism across Europe and U.S. threats to abandon free trade
France's Hollande warns of U.S. 'populism' to Europe
- Said the new U.S. government was encouraging "populism and even extremism"
Japan PM Abe: To meet Trump February 10; reaffirmed importance of alliance
- Trump's administration has put the focus of the Abe visit on starting bilateral trade talks
- Abe, trump to meet in Washington on February 10
Putin, Trump, in 'positive' call, say want to cooperate in Syria: Kremlin
- Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump said in a "positive" phone call on Saturday they favored their two countries cooperating in Syria to defeat Islamic State
