Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 10 September 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
Are you smarter than a US politician? (BBC News) This is a 7-question quiz about major world figures and events. If you don’t go at least 4-for-7 correct you simply have not been spending 10-15 a day on GEI.
U.S.
Obama administration orders ND pipeline construction to stop (The Hill) The Obama administration said it would not authorize construction on a critical stretch of the Dakota Access pipeline, handing a significant victory to the Indian tribe fighting the project the same day the group lost a court battle. The administration said construction would halt until it can do more environmental assessments. The Department of Justice, the Army and the Interior Department jointly announced that construction would pause on the pipeline near North Dakota’s Lake Oahe, a major water source on the Missouri River for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The agencies will now decide whether they need to reconsider permitting decisions for the pipeline under the National Environmental Policy Act.
AP Explains: What’s the Dakota Access oil pipeline? (Associated Press) Owned by Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, the $3.8 billion, 1,172-mile project would carry nearly a half-million barrels of crude oil daily from North Dakota’s oil fields through South Dakota and Iowa to an existing pipeline in Patoka, Illinois, where shippers can access Midwest and Gulf Coast markets. Announced in 2014, supporters said the pipeline would create more markets and reduce truck and oil train traffic – the latter of which has been a growing concern after a spate of fiery derailments of trains carrying North Dakota crude. The Standing Rock Sioux’s lawsuit challenged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant permits at more than 200 water crossings. Filed on behalf of the tribe by environmental group Earthjustice, the suit says the project violates several federal laws, including the National Historic Preservation Act, and will disturb sacred sites outside of the 2.3-million acre reservation. The lawsuit alleged that the pipeline, which would be placed less than a mile upstream of the reservation, could impact drinking water for more than 8,000 tribal members and millions who rely on it downstream. A separate lawsuit filed Thursday by the Yankton Sioux tribe in South Dakota challenges the same thing. ETP says the pipeline includes safeguards such as leak detection equipment, and workers monitoring the pipeline remotely in Texas could close block valves on it within three minutes if a breach is detected.
This is the devastating effect of heroin that police want you to see (CNN) An Ohio police department says it made the decision to release a set of graphic photos to drive home the devastating effects of heroin addiction and the toll it takes on families. The photos show a man and woman passed out in the front seats of a car with a child sitting in the back. The photo below shows two adults unconscious from a drug overdose after a traffic stop in Liverpool, Ohio. A child is sitting in the back seat. See also Documentary Of The Week: The Drug Deadlier Than Heroin.
France
Foiled Paris attack ‘was directed by IS’ (BBC News) Three women arrested over a foiled attack in Paris were directed by so-called Islamic State (IS) from Syria, a French prosecutor has said. The group “wanted to make the women into fighters“, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said. The suspects were held after police found a car filled with gas cylinders. One of the women, identified as Sarah H, aged 23, had been engaged separately to two French jihadists, both now dead, who carried out attacks this year.
Greece
Greece rejects taking in more refugees from EU states (Al Jazeera) Greece has rejected the reactivation of the so-called Dublin Regulation, which allows other EU member states to send refugees back to the country, a government spokesman said. Migration spokesman Giorgos Kyritsis said on Friday that his country, which hosts a bulk of the refugees in the continent, cannot afford to take in more asylum seekers from other European countries. Kyritsis told the Associated Press:
“A country such as Greece which receives a large number of refugees from Turkey, and also hosts a large number of refugees – practically without any outside help – cannot be asked to receive refugees from other European countries. That would be outrageous.”
Turkey
The Latest: Turkey strikes IS targets in Syria (Associated Press) Turkish military officials say Turkish jets have struck four buildings in parts of northern Syria held by the Islamic State group, destroying the structures and killing the “terrorists” inside. The officials said Wednesday that Turkish artillery had also fired 107 rounds at 25 “terrorist” targets in the IS-held villages of Zaghrah and Kuliyeh since Tuesday. The villages are situated west of the border town of Jarablus, which was retaken by Turkey-backed Syrian rebels last week. Turkey sent tanks and jets into Syria last week to help Syrian rebels take Jarablus and also to curtail advances by Syrian Kurdish forces.
Syria
US, Russia seal Syria cease-fire, new military partnership (Associated Press) The United States and Russia early Saturday announced a breakthrough agreement on Syria that foresees a nationwide cease-fire starting on Monday, followed a week later by an unlikely new military partnership targeting the Islamic State and al-Qaida as well as the establishment of new limits on President Bashar Assad’s forces.
Russia
Russian Bosses Say Ruble Finding Groove as Float Shock Ebbs (Bloomberg) War, sanctions and a shift to a free float have sent the ruble on a wild ride over the past two years. Now, some of Russia’s biggest companies see better times ahead. Bosses at Polyus PJSC, the country’s biggest gold producer, top coal miner SUEK and the Renova Group conglomerate say they’re finally able to count on a stable ruble when planning their businesses as the economy shakes off the longest recession since President Vladimir Putin first came to power in 2000. Traders agree: a measure of anticipated volatility has fallen to the lowest since the Bank of Russia stopped managing the currency in November 2014.
South Korea
Hanjin Shipping gets U.S. court order, cash to unload ships (Reuters) A U.S. judge on Friday signed an order granting South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd (117930.KS) provisional protection from creditors in the United States, enabling some vessels to dock and unload at U.S. ports. South Korea’s Hanjin had asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Sherwood to issue an order to prevent creditors from seizing Hanjin ships or property, and to allow cargo owners to make arrangements to retrieve goods stranded in warehouses. Earlier, the company received authority to spend money needed to dock at U.S. ports and begin unloading four vessels that have been stranded at sea by the company’s failure last week, a company lawyer told a U.S. court on Friday.
China
China uses crowdfunding for Great Wall restoration (BBC News) Heritage officials have launched a crowdfunding campaign to pay for restoration work on the Great Wall of China. More than 16,000 people have donated online since the campaign started at the end of August, raising almost 300,000 yuan ($45,000; £34,000) so far. It’s being run by the China Foundation for Cultural Heritage Conservation, a state-supervised body, which says the wall is in serious need of repair. Work on the wall began more than 2,000 years ago, but much of what visitors see today was constructed during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). The foundation says that of more than 6,250km (3883 miles) built during that era, a third has disappeared. It’s hoping to raise 11m yuan ($1.7m; £1.2m) by 1 December.
Mexico
Mexico angry at president’s ‘humiliating’ meeting with Trump (Associated Press) Mexico’s president was savaged on social media and in political circles following his joint press conference Wednesday with Donald Trump, with many seeing a national humiliation in his welcoming of a man who has derided migrants as rapists and criminals. President Enrique Pena Nieto said Mexicans felt “aggrieved” and had disagreements with the Republican presidential candidate, but he never did what people here wanted most: demand that Trump apologize. Adding to the anger, in the press conference Trump repeated his promise to build a border wall between the countries.