SQUAWK BOX, MONDAY 6TH JANUARY, 2020

Upping the ante… Iran withdraws from the 2015 nuclear accord and vows to expel the U.S. from the Middle East following the funeral of military commander General Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by an American airstrike last week. The soaring tensions have caused Asian stocks to sink and oil prices to spike as President Trump threatens to hit 52 Iranian sites in case of retaliation, as well as sanction Iraq. In Japan, there are moves to tighten immigration rules as prosecutors break their silence following the escape of former Nissan chairman, Carlos Ghosn, calling his actions ‘illegal and unjustifiable’. Pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong show no signs of abating and have continued near the border with China following the appointment of party-faithful official Luo Huining to run the Hong Kong Liaison Office.