Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 25 October 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 markets mixed; Kospi falls as GDP growth slows on hits from Samsung, Hyundai, Hanjin (CNBC) Markets in Asia finished mixed on Tuesday, as South Korea’s shares slipped after data showed economic growth slowed in the third quarter.
Oil prices mixed on OPEC squabbles ahead of planned production cut (Reuters) Oil prices were mixed in choppy trade on Tuesday as disagreement flared within producer cartel OPEC on who should cut how much production in a planned coordinated reduction to prop up prices. International Brent crude oil futures fell 5 cents to $51.41 per barrel as of 0655 GMT from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures turned positive, gaining 5 cents to $50.57 a barrel, late in the Asia time zone after being negative, falling to a low of $50.37 a barrel, for much of the Asia session.
U.S.
AP FACT CHECK: Voter roll problems do not equate to fraud (Associated Press) Donald Trump has warned for weeks of a “rigged” election, telling his supports to watch out for large-scale voter fraud – despite a lack of evidence that it exists. In the past few days, Trump has specifically raised concerns about people fraudulently voting using the names of dead people and cited research showing 1.8 million deceased people are still listed on state voter rolls. A 2012 Pew study found as many as 24 million voter registration records may not be valid. But there have been very few cases where that has resulted in fraudulent votes being cast.
Clinton slams Trump for comments on offensive against Islamic State (Reuters) U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton slammed rival Donald Trump on Monday for saying that the week-old effort to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the control of Islamic State was going badly.
Who will win the presidency? (FiveThirtyEight) In the week since we have last looked at this forecast, the numbers have not changed.
EU
Ceta talks: EU and Canada hold out hope for trade deal (BBC News) Canada and the European Union say they remain hopeful a landmark free trade deal can go ahead despite three Belgian regions led by Wallonia blocking it. European Council President Donald Tusk said it was still possible Ceta could be signed as planned and Canada’s trade minister said the deal was “not dead“. But Belgium has said it cannot back the deal because three French-speaking parts of the country oppose it. Ceta needs the support of all 28 EU nations before it can be approved. It is the EU’s most ambitious free trade deal to date, and has been in the pipeline for seven years. The other 27 EU governments want to sign the agreement.
Euro Traders Start to Believe Lightning Won’t Strike Twice (Bloomberg) Traders selling the euro are counting on history not to repeat. After being stuck in a range for months, the single currency has fallen below the median end-of-2016 forecast in a Bloomberg survey as investors come to the conclusion European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will ease monetary policy in December, just as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates. Options also signal a weaker euro, which may deliver the economic boost Draghi is trying to achieve. The same trade blew up in investors’ faces after the ECB’s December 2015 meeting.
UK
Britons Happy to Sacrifice Trade for Fewer Foreigners, Poll Says (Bloomberg) Britons are more concerned with controlling immigration than maintaining access to the single market, according to a survey published Tuesday, adding further evidence that Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit strategy is in line with the prevailing mood of the country.
Iraq
Iraqis are world’s most generous to strangers: global survey (Reuters) Although torn by civil war, Iraq is the world’s most generous country towards strangers in need, according to a new global index of charitable giving. Eighty-one percent of Iraqis reported helping someone they didn’t know in the previous month, in a global poll commissioned by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). For the first time since CAF began the poll in 2010, more than half of people in 140 countries surveyed said they had helped strangers – with many of the most generous found in countries hit hard by disaster and war. Despite suffering instability and violence, Iraq has twice been ranked top in terms of helping strangers. Libya, with its own internal conflict, was second on the list this year and Somalia, embroiled in civil war for 25 years, fourth.
Pakistan
Gunmen kill 59 in attack on police academy in Pakistani city of Quetta (Reuters) At least 59 people were killed and more than 100 wounded when gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed a Pakistani police training academy in the southwestern city of Quetta and took hostages, government officials said on Tuesday. More than 200 police trainees were stationed at the facility when the attack occurred late on Monday, officials said. Some cadets were taken hostage during the attack, which lasted five hours. Most of the dead were police cadets.
Philippines
Philippines Duterte tells U.S. to forget about defense deal ‘if I stay longer’ (Reuters) Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte hit out at the United States on Tuesday, saying he did not start a fight with Washington and it could forget about a military agreement between both countries if he were to be in power longer. Duterte said he was against the presence of any foreign troops in his country and the United States could “forget” an Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the Philippines, if he stayed longer, without elaborating.
