Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 12 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 shares in the red as markets turn cautious; Australia and Malaysia closed (CNBC) Asian shares traded in negative territory on Monday as markets turned cautious, following the surprise hung parliament result from the U.K. election last Friday and ahead of a two-day Federal Reserve meeting that begins on Wednesday. The dollar index traded slightly down at 97.188 at 12:03 p.m. HK/SIN. Brent crude rose 0.66% to trade at $48.47 a barrel and U.S. West Texas International crude added 0.61% to trade at $46.11. Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,267.49 an ounce as of 0411 GMT, after shedding 1% in its biggest one-day percentage decline since May 18 in the previous session
U.S.
Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner: Desire for statehood is clear (The Hill) Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzfllez-Colón touted Sunday’s vote for statehood, saying, “It is clear that the majority of Puerto Ricans want statehood.” According to The Wall Street Journal, 97% voted for statehood, though turnout was only about 23%. See also Puerto Rico votes to ask US congress to make it the 51st state (Reuters).
U.S. Environment Chief Exits G-7 Climate Talks Before End (Bloomberg) Clomate change is no longer a U.S. priority. U.S. environment chief Scott Pruitt headed home before the conclusion of a Group of Seven ministers’ meeting on climate in Italy to attend a cabinet meeting in Washington.
Pruitt, who as Environmental Protection Agency administrator successfully campaigned for the U.S. to quit the landmark Paris climate agreement, left Bologna Sunday, the EPA said in an emailed statement. The ministers have a news conference set for Monday. Jane Nishida, his acting assistant administrator, will attend the remainder of the meeting in his place, according to a spokesman for the G-7 talks, Davide Russo.
Trump is ignoring opioids, factory jobs, and every big problem he promised to solve (Vox) This article says that the president should worry less about Comey and more about policy. See next article.
A grim tally soars: More than 50,000 overdose deaths in US (STAT) More than 50,000 Americans died from drug overdoses last year, the most ever. The disastrous tally has been pushed to new heights by soaring abuse of heroin and prescription painkillers, a class of drugs known as opioids. Heroin deaths rose 23% in one year, to 12,989, slightly higher than the number of gun homicides, according to government data released Thursday.
Overall, overdose deaths rose 11 percent last year, to 52,404. By comparison, the number of people who died in car crashes was 37,757, an increase of 12 percent. Gun deaths, including homicides and suicides, totaled 36,252, up 7 percent.
Trump Slams ‘Cowardly’ Comey as Sessions Offers to Testify (Bloomberg) President Donald Trump called James Comey “cowardly“, days after the fired FBI director’s testimony to a Senate committee and as Attorney General Jeff Sessions offered to speak to the same panel to answer questions about alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Trump told his 32 million Twitter followers on Sunday:
“I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible. Totally illegal? Very ‘cowardly!’”
Senate GOP sees path to ObamaCare repeal (The Hill) A path is emerging for Senate Republicans to pass their ObamaCare repeal bill, even though there are major obstacles ahead. Critically, Senate moderates are indicating that they can agree to ending the additional federal funds for ObamaCare’s expansion of Medicaid, albeit on a slower timetable than other Republicans want. A compromise on Medicaid funding would remove one of the biggest obstacles for the bill.
The moderates want the phase-out of the Medicaid funding to take seven years, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) proposed three years on Tuesday.
Melania Trump, Son Barron Move Into the White House (Bloomberg) After nearly five months of living apart, President Donald Trump’s wife, Melania, announced Sunday that she and the couple’s young son have finally moved into the presidential mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Mother and son broke with tradition by living at Trump Tower in New York since the inauguration so that Barron, now 11, could finish the school year uninterrupted; the president lived and worked at the White House.
UK
May’s Ministers Plot Softer Brexit to Keep U.K. in Single Market (Bloomberg) Some of Theresa May’s most senior ministers are working to moderate her plans for a hard Brexit, even suggesting the U.K. could remain in Europe’s single market and customs union, as the prime minister fights to stay in power. After her election gamble backfired, May is now so weak and reliant on the support of political rivals inside and outside her Conservative Party that she’ll be unable to force through her vision of a clean break with the European Union, according to three senior government officials.
The World’s Unlikeliest Socialists (Bloomberg) Kensington Palace is the official residence of Britain’s future king, William. The West London district is home to bankers, celebrities and aristocrats of all nations drawn to its immaculate Georgian squares, tasteful luxury shops and easy access to the green spaces of Hyde Park. Even in one of the world’s most expensive cities, the cost of admission is eye-watering: 1.3 million pounds ($1.7 million) is the price of the median home, with the finer places going for many times that.
Despite those blue-blooded credentials, Kensington rejected the Conservative Party for the first time ever in last week’s election. The Labour Party, led by unabashed socialist Jeremy Corbyn, won by 20 votes out of 39,000.
France
Macron Tightens Grip on France as Voters Offer Assembly Majority (Bloomberg) President Emmanuel Macron expanded his control of French politics as voters put his party on track to a sweeping majority in the National Assembly in the first round of legislative elections.
Macron’s year-old party, Republic on the Move, won about 31.5 percent of the vote, almost 10 percentage points ahead of the Republicans, according to the Interior Ministry, with 89 percent of the vote counted. The result would give Macron’s backers between 415 and 455 seats out of 577 in the lower house of parliament, according to projections by Ipsos.
The results — which need to be confirmed in the second round of voting next Sunday — would give Macron the biggest majority in the Assembly since 1993. That offers the 39-year-old president the power to push through his recipe for fixing France over the next five years and face the consequences if he fails.
Russia
Russia’s Lavrov, U.S.’s Tillerson discussed Qatar by phone
Officials agreed to assist in easing tensions in Middle East
India
An End to Fossil Fuels: India Commits to Sell Only Electric Cars by 2030 (Futurism) As the U.S. officially backs out of the Paris Climate Agreement, other countries are now more serious than ever to do their part in limiting the world’s carbon emissions. India is one of these, and it’s already leading the charge in solar energy. See India will sell only electric cars within the next 13 years (World Economic Forum)
Australia
The Finkel Review at a glance (The Conversation) The long-awaited report from Chief Scientist Alan Finkel into Australia’s National Electricity Market was released today. The key recommendation is the adoption of a Clean Energy Target. This mandates that energy retailers provide a certain amount of their electricity from “low-emissions” generators – sources that produce emissions below a threshold level of carbon dioxide per megawatt.
