Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 29 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.
U.S.
Hillary Clinton Demands ‘Complete Facts’ in FBI E-Mail Probe (Bloomberg) At a news conference in Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday evening, Hillary Clinton called on the FBI to disclose “all the information: it has about the case involving her use of a private e-mail server as secretary of state. The Democratic nominee said “we have not been contacted by anyone” and called on FBI Director James Comey to release “all the information” he has.
Read the letter Comey sent to FBI employees explaining his controversial decision on the Clinton email investigation (The Washington Post)
To all:
This morning I sent a letter to Congress in connection with the Secretary Clinton email investigation. Yesterday, the investigative team briefed me on their recommendation with respect to seeking access to emails that have recently been found in an unrelated case. Because those emails appear to be pertinent to our investigation, I agreed that we should take appropriate steps to obtain and review them.
Of course, we don’t ordinarily tell Congress about ongoing investigations, but here I feel an obligation to do so given that I testified repeatedly in recent months that our investigation was completed. I also think it would be misleading to the American people were we not to supplement the record. At the same time, however, given that we don’t know the significance of this newly discovered collection of emails, I don’t want to create a misleading impression. In trying to strike that balance, in a brief letter and in the middle of an election season, there is significant risk of being misunderstood, but I wanted you to hear directly from me about it.
Animated map shows how drastically split different demographics are this election (Business Insider) SurveyMonkey polled upwards of 50,000 people over the course of October 2016 to see where the election is leaning. While Clinton is leading in overall polls, what if only one demographic of people voted?
Elon Musk Reveals Solar Roof Made of Glass Tiles in L.A. (Bloomberg) Elon Musk showcased his ambitions to make Tesla Motors Inc. a clean-energy behemoth Friday, unveiling a new “solar-roof” product at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, California. As the sun set, Musk told hundreds of guests gathered in an outside courtyard on the “Desperate Housewives” set that Tesla and SolarCity Corp., the company that he chairs and which he aims to acquire, will make solar roofs that look better than normal roofs. He then showcased several houses with solar tiles gracefully embedded. Because the tiles are fully integrated into the roofs, many guests in attendance could not tell that they were solar.
US Revives War on Native Americans in North Dakota (telesur) Camp leaders have cited the tribe’s right to the disputed land under the 1851 Treaty of Ft. Laramie. “This is unceded land,” they declared. A front-line camp established by Native American water protectors directly between the proposed path of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Missouri River was assaulted by armed hundreds of North Dakota law enforcement on Thursday. See also Riot police move in on North Dakota pipeline protesters (BBC News)
Cruz suggests leaving vacancy on Supreme Court (Associated Press) Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is raising the possibility that Republicans would decline to fill the Supreme Court’s vacancy if Democrat Hillary Clinton is elected president. Cruz is the second Republican to suggest that the GOP will simply block any Democratic nominee to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February. Arizona Sen. John McCain made a similar assertion earlier this month.
Kaine predicts Supreme Court rule change by Senate Democrats (CNN) Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine is predicting that Senate Democrats will “change the Senate rules” to confirm a ninth Supreme Court justice if Republicans continue to block confirmation of any new appointments.
Syria
Syrian rebels launch Aleppo counter-attack to break siege (Reuters) Syrian rebels including jihadists counter-attacked the army and its allies on Friday aiming to break a weeks-long siege on eastern Aleppo, insurgents said. The assault, employing heavy shelling and suicide car bombs, was mainly focused on the city’s western edge by rebels based in the countryside outside Aleppo. It included Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, a former affiliate of al Qaeda previously known as the Nusra Front, and groups fighting under the Free Syrian Army (FSA) banner. The offensive prompted the Russian Defence Ministry to ask President Vladimir Putin for permission to resume air strikes against militants in rebel-held eastern Aleppo after 10 days in which the army said it had not struck, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported. But Putin said it was unnecessary to resume strikes yet, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Iraq
ISIS ‘executes’ 232 near Mosul, takes thousands as human shields, UN says (CNN) ISIS has “executed” 232 people near the Iraqi city of Mosul and taken tens of thousands of people to use as human shields against advancing Iraqi forces, the United Nations says. The terror group carried out the mass killings Wednesday, punishing people who had defied its orders, a spokeswoman for the UN human rights arm told CNN.
Russia
Lithuania issues manual on what to do if Russia invades (CNN) Russia’s neighbors are getting nervous. If you invade, don’t expect our people to make it easy for you. That was the message Lithuania sent to Russia Friday as it published a manual for its three million citizens on how to defend their homeland in the event of invasion. Since Russia annexed Crimea two years ago, Lithuanians have been on edge. Conscription has been restarted and defense spending ramped up, not to mention their now-answered calls for NATO to deploy more troops to the Baltics. But even this is not enough to assuage anxiety — the Lithuanian government has Friday issued a 75-page guide on what to do if the country is invaded, entitled “Prepare to survive emergencies and war“.
Canada
Ceta: EU-Canada trade deal to be signed on Sunday (BBC News) Canada and the European Union are to sign a long-delayed landmark trade deal at a summit in Brussels on Sunday. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described it as “great news” and said he looked forward to attending. A signing ceremony planned for Thursday had to be cancelled after a Belgian region vetoed the agreement. But after marathon talks, a consensus was finally reached allowing all 28 EU states to formally approve the deal on Friday.
Mexico
Mexican peso drops 1% against US dollar after Clinton email news (CNBC) The Mexican peso fell more than 1% against the U.S. dollar after it was revealed Friday afternoon that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking at new emails related to Hillary Clinton. According to Adam Button, currency analyst at ForexLive.com:
“The market is worried about two things. One, a higher chance that Hillary loses the election. Two, you (could) have a president-elect who’s under investigation by the FBI. Even if it doesn’t change the election result, it adds some uncertainty in the election aftermath and certainly increases the division in America.”
