Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 13 March 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 markets lack direction as investors await US inflation data (CNBC) Asian stock markets traded sideways on Tuesday, after Wall Street gave up gains and as investors look forward to the release of U.S. inflation data later in the day. The dollar index traded 0.08% higher at around 89.965 at 12:14 p.m. HK/SIN. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $61.25 a barrel at 0414 GMT, down $0.11 (0.2%). Brent crude futures were at $64.85 per barrel, down $0.10, or 0.2%. Spot gold dipped 0.1% to $1,321.34 per ounce at 0359 GMT.
U.S.
- House GOP ending Russia probe, says no collusion found (The Hill) The House Intelligence Committee is shutting down its contentious investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, the top Republican leading the probe announced on Monday. The committee will interview no more witnesses and Republicans are in the process of preparing their final report, Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) told reporters. A draft of that roughly 150-page report will be delivered to committee Democrats for review on Tuesday.
The draft document asserts that there is no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians, the most politically charged question examined by the committee.
It will also contradict an official U.S. intelligence community assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin showed a “preference” for Donald Trump during the race – another assertion that Trump has disputed.
CNBC personality is already informal adviser to the president
Trump hasn’t made final decision and could change his mind
- Here are the real reasons Trump blocked Broadcom’s Qualcomm takeover (CNBC) The president has broad concerns about the U.S. losing technology advantage. That is the real basis for killing this deal.
- Texas investigating notary over failure to sign Stormy Daniels nondisclosure agreement: report (The Hill) Officials in Texas are investigating the nondisclosure agreement signed by adult-film actress Stormy Daniels after it was revealed that the notary did not sign or date the document, the Dallas Morning News reported Monday. Texas notaries are required to sign and date agreements, as well as provide a certificate verifying those who sign documents. However, notary Erica Jackson is now facing an investigation after she failed to do all three for the 2016 nondisclosure agreement regarding Daniels’s alleged affair with President Trump. Jackson’s stamp is on the document.
- Drilling and Mining Interests Pushed to Shrink Utah National Monuments, Documents Reveal (EcoWatch) Even though Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke insisted “this is not about energy,” environmentalists and public lands advocates have long suspected the Trump administration’s cuts to national monuments were driven by its push for more drilling, mining and other development. Now, internal Interior Department documents obtained by the New York Times show that gaining access to the oil, natural gas and uranium deposits in Bears Ears and coal reserves in Grand Staircase-Escalante were indeed key reasons behind President Trump’s drastic cuts to the two monuments in Utah.
In March 2017, an aide to Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) asked a senior Interior Department official to consider reduced boundaries for Bears Ears to remove land that contained oil and natural gas deposits. Hatch’s office sent a map depicting a boundary change for the southeast portion of the Bears Ears monument to “resolve all known mineral conflicts,” the email said, referring to oil and gas sites on the land that the state’s public schools wanted to lease out to increase state funds.
- Permian Basin Rig Count Still Rising (The Daily Shot) US rig count fell last week, with the decline driven by the non-Permian producers.
Italy
- Who Owns Italian Debt? (The Daily Shot)
Russia
- Russian Military Tests Nuclear-Capable Hypersonic Missile (Bloomberg) The Russian military said it has conducted a successful test of a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile capable of sneaking through enemy defenses. A video posted by the Defense Ministry Sunday showed a MiG-31 fighter jet launching a Kinzhal (Dagger) missile during a training flight. The ministry said the missile, which carried a conventional warhead, hit a practice target at a firing range in southern Russia. President Vladimir Putin named Kinzhal this month among the new nuclear weapons he said would bolster Russia’s military capability and render the U.S. missile defense useless.
India
- Where India’s Super Rich Are Investing (The Daily Shot) India’s ‘super-rich’ are no longer interested in real estate for investing.
Japan
- Japan will urge its G20 counterparts at a meeting next week to beef up efforts to prevent cryptocurrencies from being used for money laundering, said a government official.
- But the prospects for the G20 finance leaders to agree on specific global rules and mention them in a joint communique are low, officials said.
- “Discussions will focus on anti-money laundering steps and consumer protection, rather than how cryptocurrency trading could affect the banking system,” one of the officials said.
China
- China says will strengthen punishment of intellectual property rights violations (Reuters) China will strengthen punishment of intellectual property rights violations and provide equal protection to both Chinese and foreign companies, the head of the intellectual property rights office said on Tuesday.
- China’s top economic advisor says profound party and government reforms are needed (CNBC)
- Chinese President Xi Jinping’s top economic advisor, Liu He, said in a commentary that the responsibilities and authority of government ministries overlapped in some places.
- The division of labour by some state agencies was not effective and led to inefficiencies, he said.
- “Deepening the reform of the party and state institutions is an inevitable requirement for strengthening the long-term governance of the party,” Liu said in the commentary.
