Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 16 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
Asia higher; ASX up 0.9 pct, Nikkei up 0.3 pct, SKorea, China, Taiwan closed (CNBC) Asia markets opened higher on the final trading day of the week, ahead of next week’s key central bank meetings in the U.S. and Japan.
Second lowest minimum for Arctic ice (BBC News) Arctic ice cover in 2016 reached the second lowest minimum on record, tied with 2007. The sea-ice extent on 10 September stood at 4.14 million sq km, some way short of the 3.39 million sq km record low in 2012. Arctic sea-ice cover grows each autumn and winter, and shrinks each spring and summer. It has long been regarded as a sensitive indicator of change to the Earth’s climatic system. The ice extent has been tracked by the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado, using satellite measurements.
U.S.
Campaign: Trump believes Obama was born in US (The Hill) In an interview with the Washington Post published Thursday, Donald Trump refused to say whether he believes President Obama was born in the U.S. Trump’s campaign said in a statement late Thursday that the GOP nominee does believe the president was born in the U.S. as it tries to quash repercussions of Trump’s “birther” attacks on Obama. See also next article. Here is the campaign’s statement by spokesman Jason Miller:
“In 2011, Mr. Trump was finally able to bring this ugly incident to its conclusion by successfully compelling President Obama to release his birth certificate. “Mr. Trump did a great service to the President and the country by bringing closure to the issue that Hillary Clinton and her team first raised. spokesman Jason Miller said. Inarguably, Donald J. Trump is a closer. Having successfully obtained President Obama’s birth certificate when others could not, Mr. Trump believes that President Obama was born in the United States.”
Trump campaign, but not Trump, says Obama was born in the US (CNN) CNN suggests the Republican candidate and his campaign are trying to ‘have it both ways‘.
How Washington Blew Its Best Chance to Fix Immigration (ProPublica) Everyone was for it, “the business community, organized labor, the faith community, law enforcement, you name it“. But the bill did not pass. The following is not written based on opinions of Democrats (although many might agree), but from Republican congresspeople who were interviewed for this article.
And its failure revealed how fully the Republican Party had boxed itself in in Congress – the degree to which it had been paralyzed by its own extremity and tactical logic, and the degree to which this intransigence had produced a cynicism among Democrats that amounted to a self-fulfilling prophecy. In retrospect, Congress left itself open to the rise of someone like Trump, who, with his blend of nativism and anti-Washingtonism, was able to draw on resentment of undocumented immigrants themselves and resentment of Washington’s inability to come up with a solution for the problem.
Tesla Sues Oil Exec for Impersonating Elon Musk in ‘Deplorable and Unlawful’ Email (Eco Watch) Bloomberg and Forbes report that Todd Katz, the chief financial officer of Seattle-based Quest Integrity Group, allegedly pretended to be Musk in an email. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Santa Clara County Superior Court, claims that Katz used the email address “[email protected]” to send a message to Tesla Chief Financial Officer Jason Wheeler on Aug. 3 – just after Tesla reported its second-quarter financial results. The complaint claims that Katz was “impersonating Musk in an attempt to unlawfully obtain material, non-public information – including Tesla’s financial trade secrets – from Tesla’s CFO through fraud, artifice and deception.” Fortunately, Wheeler did not disclose any information. Here is the email:
why you so cautious w Q3/4 gm guidance on call? also what are your thoughts on disclosing M3 res#? Pros/cons from ir pov? what is your best guess as to where we actually come in on q3/4 deliverables. honest guess? no bs. thx 4 hard work prepping 4 today
em
GOP Rep. Steve King: Colin Kaepernick’s activism ‘sympathetic to ISIS’ (Sports Illustrated) San Fransisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaspernick has been kneeling (rather than standing) during the national anthem in protest support of Black Lives Matter. U.S. Representative Steve King (R., Iowa) criticized Kaepernick’s national anthem protest, claiming his activism is “sympathetic to ISIS“. The congressman made the comments in an interview on Tuesday with Newsmax’s Steve Malzberg. After Malzberg falsely claimed Kaepernick didn’t have a Constitutional right to stage his protest, he asked King why he believes “the NFL is capitulating to this when there’s no Constitutional right of freedom of expression when you’re in uniform and working as a football player“. King responded by saying if someone working for him publicly promoted same – sex marriage or abortion, he would fire them.
Trump Jr. interview cut off after question about charity money spent on portrait (The Hill) Donald Trump Jr explains why his father won’t release his tax returns. Then a question about charity money for a portrait ends the interview.
EU
Bratislava EU meeting: Bloc needs ‘sober look at problems’ says Tusk (BBC News) The European Council President Donald Tusk has called on EU leaders to take a “sober and brutally honest” look at the bloc’s problems, in the wake of Britain’s shock vote to leave the EU. As they gather in Bratislava for a meeting without the UK, they will discuss ways to regain trust in the EU. The meeting is not due to discuss negotiations with Britain, but will look at the future as a bloc of 27. Officials say Mr Tusk views migration as the main issue to tackle. Even though Britain’s referendum result is not on the agenda, and the British Prime Minister Theresa May is not attending the summit, there is little doubt that Brexit will overshadow the meeting.
Germany
Merkel faces further threat from the far-right – this time it’s in Berlin (CNBC) German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party is set for further losses in regional elections in the capital Berlin on Sunday, with the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party expected to make gains.
Deutsche Bank: No plan to pay $14B Justice Dept. settlement (Associated Press) Deutsche Bank does not want to pay too high a cost of doing business. Deutsche Bank AG said Friday it does not intend to pay $14 billion to settle civil claims with the U.S. Department of Justice for its handling of residential mortgage-backed securities and related transactions. The bank confirmed in a statement that the Justice Department had proposed a settlement of $14 billion and asked the German bank to make a counter proposal. The Frankfurt, Germany-based lender said:
“Deutsche Bank has no intent to settle these potential civil claims anywhere near the number cited. The negotiations are only just beginning. The bank expects that they will lead to an outcome similar to those of peer banks which have settled at materially lower amounts.”
Syria
Syrian military begins to withdraw from vital Aleppo road (Associated Press) Syria’s military began withdrawing from a major artery to Aleppo late Thursday as the U.N. envoy accused President Bashar Assad’s government of obstructing aid access to the contested city. A monitoring group reported three civilian fatalities, the first since the U.S.-Russian-brokered cease-fire took effect three days ago. Meanwhile, Russia was expected to deploy its forces along Aleppo’s Castello Road to ensure safe passage for humanitarian convoys to the city’s opposition-held quarters. It would be the most overt participation by Russian ground forces in the Syrian war, underscoring Moscow’s position as power broker in the conflict. Russia intervened with its air force on the side of the Assad government last year, turning the tide of the war in his favor.
Russia
The new Red Scare? Russia ups role in world events, US elections (CNN) Russia is commanding center stage in a presidential election for the first time in decades and President Vladimir Putin is being portrayed as a sinister puppeteer looming over the bitter contest between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. A decision by Putin to further foreign policy goals by intervening directly in a US election would cross a line rarely approached in Soviet times. And it begs the question of why Russia would take this perilous extra step.
Philippines
Philippines Foreign Minister: We can’t be US’ ‘little brown brother’ forever (CNN) The Philippines top diplomat has told a forum in Washington that his country “cannot forever be the little brown brothers of America“. Philippines Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay made the comments after a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington Thursday, during which he described the US relationship with the Philippines as cooperative and symbiotic. Here is the full forum discussion:
