Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 18 November 2019
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, published Monday, Wednesday and Friday, which has many more headlines and a number of article discussions to keep you abreast of what we have found interesting.
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Notice: We have changed the form of content coverage for Early Bird. We will provide discussion only for Asia Markets news and a small number (often 1 or 2) other articles. The remainder of the content will be headlines (with links) only.
Key Articles
Global
- Asia stocks mostly higher as investors watch for US-China trade updates (CNBC) Stocks in Asia were mostly higher on Monday as investors looked for further developments on U.S.-China trade. Mainland Chinese stocks closed higher. The U.S. dollar index was lower at 97.905 after seeing highs above 98.4 last week. Oil prices edged higher in the afternoon of Asian trading hours. The international benchmark Brent crude futures contract nudged fractionally higher to $63.32 per barrel. U.S. crude futures were also 0.28% higher at $57.88 per barrel. Spot gold was down about 0.1% to $1,466.09 per ounce as of 0453 GMT, while U.S. gold futures were 0.1% lower at $1,466.40. U.S. treasury yields were slightly higher.
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U.S.
- Millennials side with Trump more than Baby Boomers in Microsoft News poll (MSN News) A Microsoft News poll taken after the first week of public impeachment hearings found strongly weakened support for President Trump. But the poll also found a huge gap between older Americans and younger Americans. It’s not what you might expect — across the board, people of Boomer age were much more likely to have a less favorable view of President Trump than Millennials.
Questions:
After the first week of public impeachment hearings, do you feel less favorable or more favorable toward President Trump?
Do you believe the impeachment hearings are being run fairly?
Overall, Americans:
Were less favorable to Trump by a whopping 21-point difference
Were split on whether the impeachment hearing are being run fairly
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- Gordon Sondland Stepped in ‘And Things Went Really Off the Rails’ (The Daily Beast) If this report is accurate, the Gordon Sondland testimony this week will be very interesting or he will be “taking the fifth” frequently.
- President Trump Bet Big This Election Year. Here’s Why He Lost. (The New York Times) The president has campaigned heavily for two losing GOP gubernatorial candidates in heavily Republican states that he carried by big margins in 2016. The victorious Democratic candidates in Louisiana and Kentucky won with support from a combination of African-Americans and moderate whites in and around urban centers.
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China
- U.S. Struggles to Stem Chinese Efforts to Recruit Scientists (The Wall Street Journal) National security officials say universities are at the leading edge of a plan by Beijing to illicitly gain scientific expertise and leapfrog the technology gap with the West, but prosecutors face challenges proving wrongdoing in court. This article gives details of a case involving University of Kansas engineering professor Franklin Feng Tao, a China-born lawful permanent resident who moved to the U.S. in 2002.
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Other important articles
U.S.
- White House defends Trump’s surprise medical exam amid skepticism online (NBC News)
- Biden says he won’t legalize marijuana because it may be a ‘gateway drug’ (The Hill)
- Sen. Ron Johnson says the whistleblower’s sources ‘exposed things that didn’t need to be’ (The Washington Post)
- Democrats distorting Ukraine story in bid to smear President Trump, Nunes says (Fox News)
- Trump attacks Pence aide as ‘Never Trumper’ after she said Ukraine call was ‘inappropriate’ (CNBC)
- Buttigieg Jumps Out to Lead in Iowa Poll (The New York Times)
UK
- NHS running short of dozens of lifesaving medicines (The Guardian)
- Switching allegiances? Brexit stirs election doubts around England (Reuters)
Syria
China
- China is building up its ‘shadow reserves’ to counter its reliance on the US dollar (CNBC)
- People’s Daily says no room for compromise with Hong Kong protesters (South China Morning Post)
- Hong Kong protests: hundreds trapped as police lay siege to university (The Guardian)
Canada
- High debts and low yields push Canada’s farmers to the brink (The Guardian)
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