Early Bird Headlines 17 May 2015
Econintersect: Here are some of the headlines we found to help you start your day. For more headlines see our afternoon feature for GEI members, What We Read Today, which has many more headlines and a number of article discussions to keep you abreast of what we have found interesting.
Global
- NASA: 10,000-year-old Antarctic ice shelf will disappear by 2020 (CNN) One of the last remaining sections of Antarctica’s Larsen B Ice Shelf is dramatically weakening, according to a new NASA study. The study predicts that what remains of the once-prominent ice shelf, a thick floating platform of ice, most likely will “disintegrate completely” before the end of this decade.
U.S.
- F. A. O. Schwarz to Close Its Doors on Fifth Avenue (The New York Times) Hat tip to Bety Andrews. F. A. O. Schwarz, the legendary toy store on Fifth Avenue, will close its doors July 15, a victim of rising rents and ultraluxury retailing in New York City’s hottest shopping district. The store is reportedly looking at basement space in a less exclusive neighborhood on Broadway.
- American Pharoah Wins 2015 Preakness, Setting Up Triple Crown Shot (Huffington Post) American Pharoah will take his misspelled name to Belmont on June 6 for the 14th Triple Crown attempt since it was last won by Affirmed in 1978.
- Years of Cuts Threaten to Put College Out of Reach for More Students (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) Hat tip to Roger Erickson who asks: “What’s next? 7 years indentured servitude to “pay” for elementary school?“
- Join Our Co-Founder, Ben Cohen, and Help Get The Dough Out of Politics (Ben & Jerry’s) Hat tip to Roger Erickson. The ice cream guys are petitioning for a constitutional amendment (it would be the 28th) to overturn Citizens United.
- Geologists: Hidden Cascades volcano may pose a threat (USA Today) Glacier Peak is a little monitored volcano in the northern Cascades which could dwarf the size of the 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption. It has a violent history and could pose a threat to Washington State communities all the way to Puget Sound. When will it blow? Maybe this year, maybe in a thousand years. Monitoring equipment is being increased on Glacier Peak after years with just one seismic monitor there.
EU
- Islamic State militants ‘smuggled to Europe’ (BBC News) Islamic State (IS) fighters are being smuggled into Europe by gangs in the Mediterranean, a Libyan official has told the BBC.
Greece
- Greece Aid Accord Looks Elusive as Tsipras Sticks to Red Lines (Bloomberg) Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says there will be no further cuts to state wages and pensions, one of the Greek governments “red lines”.
Saudi Arabia
- Rally Round the Flag in Riyadh (Foreign Affairs) Saudis are cheering on the war in Yemen. But will they still be celebrating when the kingdom turns up the heat on the Islamic State?
Pakistan
- What Pakistan Knew About the Bin Laden Raid (Foreign Affairs) The former Pakistan ambassador to the U.S. says he still has a few unanswered questions about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden but has a clear overview of what happened. He calls Seymour Hersh’s recent “expose” a story that does “not add up“. Some of Hersh’s assertions “border on fantasy“. Read The Killing of Osama bin Laden (Seymour Hersh, LondonReview of Books).
China
- Who’s your debt daddy? China tops list of US foreign creditors once more (CNBC) Remember ast month when Japan became the biggest creditor for the U.S.? Well, the reign was short-lived – China returned to the top of the list again this month, even though overall foreign central bank holdings of U.S. debt declined.
- Dredging For Disaster (Foreign Policy) Beijing’s massive island-building project in the South China Sea is destroying the region’s diverse, irreplaceable coral reef ecosystem.
Afghanistan
- Major explosion near Kabul airport in Afghanistan (BBC News) Two Afghan teenage girls were killed, with more casualties feared and at least 18 civilians injured, by a suicide bomb exploded near the entrance of the main airport in the Afghan capital, Kabul. Eight women and three children were among the wounded. One foreign military vehicle and two civilian vehicles were damaged in the attack.
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