Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 14 August 2016
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
How the World Became Obese (Pew Research Center, Twitter) Obesity has spread like a virus.
U.S.
Trump rails against press in response to reports of chaos (Reuters) U.S. Republican Donald Trump on Saturday repeated his attack on President Barack Obama that he helped “found” Islamic State and railed against media reports that his campaign is failing, at a campaign rally in Connecticut, a state where he has a long-shot of being victorious. Speaking for more than an hour in a sweltering room, Trump spent a significant portion of his speech complaining about the media. He again threatened to revoke the press credentials of The New York Times. The credentials allow reporters access to press-only areas of his campaign events. He has already banned other outlets, including The Washington Post.
Is Trump in danger of losing GOP? (The Hill) is in danger of losing his grip on the Republican Party as fears grow that he’s headed for a landslide defeat in November that will wipe out GOP majorities in Congress. The cascade of Republicans seeking separation from Trump reached new levels this week and was punctuated by several high-profile defections, including centrist GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. Scores of current and former Republican lawmakers and officials have similarly declared their intention to either sit this election out or cross party lines in the fall.
Hillary election win could raise uncertainty over future of Clinton Foundation (New York Daily News) The Clinton Foundation has caused political headaches for its namesakes – and it’s unclear what they’ll do with their charitable organization if they return to the White House. Some say the multibillion-dollar foundation should be disbanded to avoid possible conflicts of interest. Others say the foundation does too much good work around the globe and should continue under new leadership. Hillary Clinton’s team is facing renewed questions about conflicts of interest after new emails released last week revealed that Clinton Foundation staffers asked top State Department officials to provide foundation donors access to other senior government employees.
Self-Driving Car Takes Man To Hospital After He Suffers Pulmonary Embolism (The Huffington Post) Say what you want about self-driving cars ― this man will tell you one of them potentially saved his life. Joshua Neally says he suffered a pulmonary embolism late last month while behind the wheel of the Tesla Model X, which features auto-driving technology, that he had purchased a week earlier. Instead of pulling over to call 911 and wait for an ambulance, the 37-year-old father said he was able to direct his car to the nearest hospital.
Muslim cleric and associate shot to death on New York street (Reuters) A Muslim cleric and an associate were fatally shot by a lone gunman on Saturday while walking together following afternoon prayers at a mosque in the New York City borough of Queens, authorities said. The gunman approached the men from behind and shot both in the head at close range at about 1:50 p.m. EDT on a blistering hot afternoon in the Ozone Park neighborhood, police said in a statement, adding that no arrests had been made. The motive for the shooting was not immediately known and no evidence has been uncovered that the two men were targeted because of their faith, said Tiffany Phillips, a spokeswoman for the New York City Police Department. The victims, identified as Imam Maulama Akonjee, 55, and Thara Uddin, 64, were both wearing religious garb at the time of shooting.
Have you ever sat on a beach and wondered what’s across the ocean? (Metrocosm) If you follow the latitude directly east from wherever you are on the U.S. east coast, you would have to follow a curve. But if you travel in a straight line you would end up somewhere on the coast of Africa.
UK
Here Comes the Brexit-Era British Economy in Hard Numbers (Bloomberg) Weaker demand, slower growth, faster inflation — that’s the U.K. economy that the Bank of England sees in its crystal ball after the nation voted for Brexit. Now the first hard numbers are on the way this coming week. One change is the new UK government is abandoning the previous administration’s insane fiscal surplus target for 2020.
Greece
Criminalizing Solidarity: Syriza’s War on the Movements (TruthOut.org) Hat tip to Rob Carter. Greek police have cracked down on migrants traversing Greece and the Greeks who have been helping them. In the early morning of July 27, refugee families and supporters who were sleeping at Thessaloniki’s three occupied refugee shelters — Nikis, Orfanotrofeio and Hurriya — were woken up by police in riot gear. In a well-orchestrated police operation, hundreds of people were detained. Most occupants with refugee status were released, while some were transported to military-run refugee reception centers. The rest of the occupants, 74 people of more than a dozen different nationalities, were taken into police custody. The shelters were then bulldozed, including the collected clothing, supplies and medicines that had been donated for refugees. This has been done before. See Greece starts moving migrants from squalid border camp (Reuters). But volunteers are opening other shelters. See this 05 August report: Abandoned Factory Turned Into Home For Up To 700 Refugees In Greece (The Huffington Post).
Iran
Iran Oil is Ramping Up Production (Bloomberg)
India
Iran Set to Lose India Oil Market Share as Rosneft Elbows In (Bloomberg) Iran’s biggest oil buyer in India is ready to throttle back imports from the Persian Gulf nation once a new supply deal kicks in. Essar Oil Ltd. expects to lower purchases from Iran after shipments from OAO Rosneft begin once the Russian state producer completes a deal to buy a stake in the Indian company, according to Lalit Kumar Gupta, Essar Oil’s chief executive officer.
China
High-Risk ‘Shadow’ Credit in China Put at $2.9 Trillion by IMF (Bloomberg) International Monetary Fund staff said that 19 trillion yuan ($2.9 trillion) of Chinese “shadow” credit products are high-risk compared with corporate loans and highlighted the danger that defaults could lead to liquidity shocks. The investment products are structured by the likes of trust and securities companies and based on equities or on debt — typically loans — that isn’t traded, staff members John Caparusso and Kai Yan said in a report released Friday.