Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 09 June 2017
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.
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Global
Asian markets close mostly higher; pound weaker on UK hung parliament (CNBC) Asian markets mostly shrugged off the political uncertainty in the U.K. The dollar gained against a basket of rival currencies to trade at 97.445 at 2:55 p.m. HK/SIN. Brent crude declined 0.36% to trade at $47.69 a barrel and U.S. crude shed 0.35% to trade at $45.48. Spot gold rose 0.1% to $1,279.13 per ounce at 0046 GMT. U.S. gold futures for August delivery rose 0.2% to $1,281.5.
U.S.
Winners and losers from Comey’s testimony (The Hill) The lists:
WINNERS
Former FBI director James Comey
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.)
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.)
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)
Former FBI Director Robert Mueller
Washington, D.C. bars
LOSERS
President Trump
Attorney General Jeff Sessions
Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch
The media
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
Comey, Trump Accuse Each Other of Lying in Wake of Hearing (Bloomberg) Ousted FBI chief James Comey and President Donald Trump accused each other of lying about their private encounters in the wake of dramatic Senate testimony that centered on whether the president sought to quash part of a federal probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. During 2 1/2 hours of testimony Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Comey said Trump’s shifting explanations for dismissing him were “lies, plain and simple.” He said he wrote detailed memos of their conversations because he feared the president — who ultimately fired him on May 9 — would paint a false picture of their encounters.
Five takeaways from Comey’s dramatic testimony (The Hill) The list indicates clarity has not emerged:
No smoking gun
Sessions might be in trouble
Republicans were not divided
Comey’s anger is real
The cloud hasn’t lifted
What’s become clear is that James Comey has a martyr complex and Donald Trump is an amateur (Independent)
… what’s the jury thinking now after Comey accused the President of speaking “lies, plain and simple” about him and his former colleagues at the agency? After he admitted he took notes after all communications with him because of “the nature of the person”? The nature of the leader of the free world. The notes he felt compelled to take, because, in his words, “I was honestly concerned he might lie”? (You begin to see why the ratings for this were high.)
Karl Rove: ‘Trump lacks the focus or self-discipline to do the basic work required of a president’ (The Hill) Karl Rove, a former senior adviser to President George W. Bush, slammed President Trump on Wednesday, saying that the real estate mogul “lacks the focus or self-discipline to do the basic work required of a president.” Rove wrote in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal:
“His chronic impulsiveness is apparently unstoppable and clearly self-defeating,” “Mr. Trump may have mastered the modes of communication, but not the substance, thereby sabotaging his own agenda.”
Montana congressman-elect to be sentenced for altercation with reporter (Reuters) Montana Republican congressman-elect Greg Gianforte is expected next week to enter a plea of no contest or a plea of guilty to misdemeanor assault after he was accused of attacking a reporter on the eve of his election, a prosecutor said on Thursday. Gianforte will appear in court in Bozeman on Monday and is scheduled to be sentenced the same day, after he enters his plea, Gallatin County Attorney Marty Lambert said by phone.
California Shows Why Economic Growth Doesn’t Need More Fossil Fuels (Twitter) A better statement might be: California Shows That Economic Growth Can Be Attained Without More Fossil Fuels.
UK
Election results live: Theresa May under fire as hung parliament confirmed (The Guardian) This article has a live tracking of election results as they are reported. See also May Suffers Stunning Defeat.
Theresa May’s Conservatives are on track to nearly triple their majority on Thursday, according to one of the final pre-election polls (City A.M.) This was the story Tuesday afternoon. Now the results are in and May’s Conservatives have lost seats and also their majority, coming up 12 seats short with only 5 seats still undecided. See preceding article.
Corbyn calls for May to stand down (Reuters) British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said it was time for Prime Minister Theresa May to stand down after election results indicated she had lost votes, support and the confidence of voters.
What the UK election result means for Brexit (CNBC) With the result of the U.K. General Election showing a hung parliament, analysts are contemplating what it means for Brexit negotiations, with Prime Minister Theresa May losing her parliamentary majority. The Conservative leader called a snap election to strengthen her parliamentary majority and have more power and freedom to negotiate Britain’s exit from the European Union. However, the results could make talks with Brussels “more complicated,” according to Guntram Wolff, director of the Brussels-based Bruegel think tank. He told CNBC:
“It may be impossible to compromise due to domestic political pressures in the U.K.. So a no-deal scenario may become more likely.”
Pound Slumps as Hung Parliament Seen in Shock U.K. Election (Bloomberg) U.K. broadcasters BBC, Sky and ITV all forecast a hung parliament, which could mean the nation is left without a functioning government before formal Brexit negotiations start this month. The Tory party could gain a total of 318 seats, the BBC projected, short of the 326 seats needed for a majority, leaving Prime Minister Theresa May’s future in doubt. This uncertainty has hit the pound with a 1.7% decline:
Qatar
Qatar vows no surrender in Gulf crisis as U.S., Kuwait seek solution (Reuters) Qatar vowed on Thursday to ride out the isolation imposed on it by fellow Arab states over its alleged support for terrorism and said it would not compromise its sovereignty over foreign policy to resolve the region’s biggest diplomatic crisis in years.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt severed relations with the small Gulf Arab state on Monday, accusing it of supporting Islamist militants and their arch-adversary Iran – charges Qatar calls baseless.
Several other countries later followed suit.
Would-be mediators including U.S. President Donald Trump and Kuwait’s ruling emir have struggled to ease a crisis that Qataris say has led to a blockade of their nation.
