Early Headlines: Violence in Baltimore, GOP Budget Focuses on Obamacare, Nepal Death Count Soars, Rescues on Everest and More

Early Bird Headlines 28 April 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.

U.S.

• Baltimore erupts in riots after funeral of man who died in police custody (Reuters) Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man, was arrested on April 12 when he fled from police in a high-crime area. He was carrying a switchblade knife, and he was put inside a transport van to be taken to a police station. At some point, Gray suffered the spinal injury that led to his death a week later. City Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said on Friday that officers failed to belt him into his seat securely and to give him timely medical attention. Police have said they would conclude their investigation by Friday and forward the results to state prosecutors. Six officers have been suspended, and the U.S. Justice Department is investigating the incident for possible civil rights violations
• Maryland Declares Emergency as Riots Follow Man’s Death (Bloomberg) The National Guard has been called out, additional state troopers sent into the city and a citywide curfew declared for 10pm – 5 am.
• Republicans reach deal for budget plan, target Obamacare (Reuters) Republicans reached a compromise deal for the first joint House-Senate budget in six years. The budget ill seek to boost military spending while calling for deep cuts to social programs to eliminate deficits in a decade. The primary focus will be on the use of budget procedural tools for repealing or replacing President Barack Obama’s signature health reform legislation.
• Has the Justice Department Found a New Town that Preys on Its Poor? (Frontline, PBS) Last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said that it was coming to the rural Louisiana town of Ville Platte, to investigate the police department and the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office, which is also headquartered in the town. It said it would look into allegations that the officers detain residents in their jails without proper cause. In addition, civil-rights activists in Louisiana say that improper detentions are only part of a broader problem in Ville Platte, a city in which they say residents are cited for frivolous violations, excessively fined and put in jail when they cannot pay.

UK

• Sun launches ‘whistleblowers’ charter’ for secure leaks (The Guardian) Ruppert Murdock’s tabloid paper has launched an anonymous “protected” site for whistleblowers to deposit revelations that the newspaper may follow up on after their usual “due diligence”. See The Sun launches Whistleblowers’ Charter: Our SecureDrop keeps anonymous sources secure (The Sun)
• Miliband is wrong: Cameron has done the best anyone could with UK foreign policy (The Conversation)
• Miliband is right: Cameron’s foreign policy is a failure of judgment and leadership (The Conversation)
  

China

• How China can avoid the middle income trap (China Spectator) The question discussed is how China can follow countries like South Korea and Taiwan to progress from an advanced emerging market country into the ranks of the wealthy developed economies. The question has been addressed by Lou Jiwei, the Minister of Fiance. He says that key will be successful implementation of the country’s reform agenda (deleveraging, more food imports, increased employment in manufacturing and higher social and geographic mobility).
  

Nepal

• Hopes Fade to Find Nepal Survivors Among Thousands Buried (Bloomberg) Millions are homeless in Nepal and unknown thousands remained buried under deep piles of rubble. Some villages not yet reached have been observed from the air to be “completely flattened“. In some good news, almost all of the 180 climbers trapped at Camp 1 and Camp 2, 2,200 and 3,600 feet above Base Camp have been rescued by helicopter. Econintersect has some uncertainty about whether any climbers remain above Camp 2. It is possible that those at higher elevations were able to descend to Camp 2. That has not been reported yet if it happened. If there remain climbers at those higher altitudes their survival is quite uncertain without additional bottled oxygen. See Mount Everest (Wikipedia).
• Nepal earthquake: death toll climbs past 4,000 with many more missing – rolling report (The Guardian) The devastation and extreme danger from weakened structures still standing is contribution to delays in distributing aid. Officials acknowledged they were overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster.
• Nepal earthquake: Eight million people affected, UN says (BBC News) One quarter of Nepal’s people are affected by the earthquake and 1.4 million require food aid. The latest death toll has risen to 4310, with almost 8,000 seriously injured.
• Nepal earthquake: Before and after (BBC News) Photo gallery, map and interactive infographic.

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