Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 15 January 2018
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, published Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 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 gain as the dollar continues to struggle (CNBC) Major indexes in Asia notched gains on Monday after Wall Street closed out last week at records and the dollar continued to struggle. The dollar index extended losses to trade at 90.694 at 1:54 p.m. HK/SIN. Brent crude futures were at $69.85 per barrel at 0412 GMT, down $0.02 from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $64.40 a barrel, down $0.10. Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,339.46 an ounce by 0117 GMT.
U.S.
Conservative writer: Trump called friends to brag about ‘s—hole countries’ remark (The Hill) Trump faced widespread backlash and accusations of racism after a report he disparaged several nations during a meeting with lawmakers at the White House. The White House initially did not deny the comment, which came as lawmakers work on an immigration deal.
- Senator Calls Trump’s Denial of ‘Shithole’ Comment ‘Not True’ (Bloomberg) A key Democratic senator (Dick Durbin, of Illinois) who was at the Oval Office meeting on immigration said President Donald Trump’s denial that he called Haiti and African nations “shithole countries” is “not true” and that Trump made the “vile and racist” comments.
- GOP senator: ‘Gross misrepresentation’ of Trump’s remarks (CNN) Georgia Republican Sen. David Perdue said Sunday that President Donald Trump did not use the phrase “shithole countries” during a meeting with lawmakers on immigration reform last week. Perdue told moderator George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week“:
“I’m telling you he did not use that word, George, and I’m telling you it’s a gross misrepresentation.”
- Christie, Booker team up to oppose Trump’s offshore drilling proposal (CNN) A bipartisan group of New Jersey elected officials has teamed up to ask the Trump administration to stop talks of allowing offshore drilling off the coast of their state. Incoming Democratic Gov.-elect Phil Murphy and outgoing Republican Gov. Chris Christie of the Garden State joined together with Democratic Sens. Cory Booker and Bob Menendez to send a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke expressing their stance on the issue of offshore drilling.
- Five hurdles to a big DACA and border deal (The Hill) A bipartisan immigration fix is facing an increasingly uphill fight in Congress after President Trump rejected a Senate proposal and sparked a political firestorm by referring to several developing nations as “shithole countries.” The five hurdles:
- Trump’s comments
- Liberal frustrations
- DREAM Act viewed as amnesty
- GOP divisions
- Timing (government funding issues consuminghg ‘oxygen’)
- Trey Gowdy steps down from House Ethics Committee, citing ‘workload’ (CNN) Rep. Trey Gowdy stepped down from the House Ethics Committee this week after five years of serving on the panel. The South Carolina Republican tendered his resignation in a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday, the details of which were published in the Congressional Record on Thursdayand reported by news outlets later in the week. When he was named Chairman of the House Oversight Committee in June, Gowdy asked House leadership to take him off of one of his four committees, according to a spokesperson for Gowdy. He wrote in his letter:
“Four committee assignments, including a chairmanship, is a challenging workload.”
- Transcript of Donald Trump Interview With The Wall Street Journal (The Wall Street Journal, Twitter) Here is the expedited transcript of the interview which has been disputed by the president and the White House. Portions of the interview were off the record, and have been excluded from this transcript. The disputed reference to Kim Jong Un was not included in the published transcript but an audio was later released by The WSJ via Twitter:
We have reviewed the audio from our interview with President Trump, as well as the transcript provided by an external service, and stand by what we reported. Here is audio of the portion the White House disputes. https://t.co/eWcmiHrXJg pic.twitter.com/bx9fGFWaPw
– The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) January 14, 2018
EU
- Merkel could join Macron in Davos for epic clash with Trump (Reuters) German Chancellor Angela Merkel is considering joining French President Emmanuel Macron at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week in what could turn into an epic clash of competing world views with U.S. President Donald Trump.
- The Depressions of Europe (Twitter) If Italy is in a great depression (and it is, for 10 years and continuing) then Greece would be in the greatest depression.
Germany​
- German Engineering Yields New Warship That Isn’t Fit for Sea (The Wall Street Journal) The new German warship , the 7,000-ton Baden-Württemberg frigate was determined last month to have unexpected design flaws: It doesn’t really work.
Defense experts cite the warship’s buggy software and ill-considered arsenal – as well as what was until recently its noticeable list to starboard – as symptoms of deeper, more intractable problems: Shrinking military expertise and growing confusion among German leaders about what the country’s armed forces are for.
Turkey
- Erdogan Repeats Warning of Attack on Kurdish Enclave in Syria (Bloomberg) President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signaled Turkish forces may soon carry out an attack on a Kurdish stronghold in northwest Syria, a day after the army shelled the area. Turkey regards the Kurdish YPG forces who control Afrin as a terrorist group with links to the PKK, which has long battled for autonomy in Turkey’s southeast. The Kurds received U.S. backing as the most effective local proxies against Islamic State in Syria, and the policy of arming them stoked tension between the NATO allies.
North Korea
- North Korea requests talks on Olympics with South on Jan. 17: South Korea (Reuters) North Korea has requested that working talks on sending its athletes to next month’s Pyeongchang Winter Olympics be held on Wednesday at the truce village of Panmunjom, the South’s unification ministry said in a mobile text message.
China
- China absence looms over Canada meeting on how to pressure North Korea (Reuters) Foreign ministers from around 20 nations gather on Tuesday to discuss how to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions through diplomatic and financial pressure, but China, seen as a key player in any long-term solution, will be absent.
- China Vows to Toughen Rules on $38 Trillion Banking Industry (Bloomberg) China’s banking regulator pledged to continue its crackdown on malpractice in the $38 trillion industry in 2018, vowing to tackle everything from poor corporate governance and violation of lending policies to cross-holdings of risky financial products. The China Banking Regulatory Commission unveiled its regulatory priorities for the year in a statement on Saturday. They include:
- Inspecting the funding source of banks’ shareholders and ensuring they have obtained their stakes in a regular manner
- Examining banks’ compliance with rules restricting loans to real estate developers, local governments, industries burdened by overcapacity, and some home buyers
- Looking into banks’ interbank activities and wealth management businesses.
San Salvador
- Strangers at home, Salvadoran deportees welcomed at call centers (Reuters) For Salvadorans returning home after years in the U.S., employment by call centers servicing U.S. corporations is a rapidly expanding business providing thousands with employment opportunities.
Some Salvadorans fled to the United States during its 1980s civil war. Others came later, feeling violence, poverty and natural disasters. Many gained temporary protected status (TPS) following destructive earthquakes in 2001, allowing them to live and work legally in the United States.
It is unknown how many Salvadorans will return home after U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel TPS from September 2019 gave them 18 months to leave or seek lawful residency.