Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 18 May 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 narrowly mixed as investors digest US-China trade news (CNBC) Asian shares traded mixed on Friday following off the soggy close seen on Wall Street overnight amid investor concerns over U.S.-China trade talks. The dollar index stood little changed at 93.468, trading within sight of a five-month high of 93.632 set earlier this week. Brent crude futures edged up by 0.29% to trade at $79.53 per barrel after rising as high as $80.50 per barrel, its highest since November 2014, in the last session. Meanwhile, U.S. crude futures added 0.17% to trade at $71.61. Spot gold was unchanged at $1,290.12 per ounce at 0037 GMT, after marking its lowest since Dec. 27 in the previous session at $1,285.41.
U.S.
- Gina Haspel confirmed as CIA director after key Democrats vote in favor (The Guardian) Haspel, strongly opposed by many for role in CIA’s brutal torture program, confirmed as first female director in 54-45 vote. The 54-45 vote split both parties, with six Democrats joining most Republicans in support. Republican senator John McCain, who has undergone treatment for brain cancer, was absent for the vote.
- The Memo: Trump team stokes fight over Mueller (The Hill) See also Trump: ‘Bigger Than Watergate’ if FBI Spied on My Campaign (Daily Beast). President Trump and his team are intensifying their attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe as the investigation enters its second year. Rudy Giuliani told The Hill on Thursday – one year to the day since Mueller was appointed – that “it is an absolute requirement that the investigation and the investigators are put under scrutiny.”
Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City who joined the president’s outside legal team last month, highlighted speculation that has been sweeping conservative circles – fanned by the president himself – that the FBI may have had a spy inside the 2016 Trump campaign.
- Mueller outlines scope of Russia probe in court filing (Reuters) U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office on Thursday gave a federal court a classified memo describing the extent of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and other related crimes. The memo was filed in response to questions raised in the court in Virginia two weeks ago by Judge T.S. Ellis that Mueller should not have “unfettered powers“.
Ellis demanded to see an unredacted copy of the August 2017 memo written by U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that defined Mueller’s investigative mandate.
Ellis will review the memo before deciding whether or not to dismiss charges against President Donald Trump’s former election campaign manager, Paul Manafort.
- Missing documents prompted leak of Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s bank records: Report (CNBC) The Senate Finance Committee’s ranking Democrat asked the Treasury Department’s inspector general Thursday to examine allegedly missing bank reports that are said to detail suspicious activity in an account of Trump attorney Michael Cohen. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon also asked that the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network give his committee documents relevant to the Cohen reports.
The absence of two alleged “suspicious activity reports” was first reported by The New Yorker. A law enforcement official, concerned about the missing documents, was the source of a third leaked report, the magazine said Wednesday.
- Rudy Giuliani just watered down Trump’s Russia collusion denial – again (The Washington Post) (Econintersect: If Giuliani is the defense attorney can the prosecution go on vacation?) We don’t know whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government, legally speaking. But we do know that those close to President Trump seem to be quite concerned about just how precisely you define the word “collusion.” Rudolph W. Giuliani hit the airwaves of Fox News on Wednesday night to again raise the bar for what might constitute collusion. On the same day that 2,500 pages of testimony about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting were released, Giuliani declared that collusion would require using information that was provided by the Russians. Giulianihe said of the opposition research that was offered:
“And even if it comes from a Russian, or a German, or an American, it doesn’t matter. And they never used it is the main thing. They never used it. They rejected it. If there was collusion with the Russians, they would have used it.”
- Bill Gates: I had to explain to Trump the difference between HIV, HPV (The Hill) Bill Gates discloses in newly revealed footage that President Trump twice asked him to clarify the difference between HIV and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). MSNBC’s “All in With Chris Hayes” aired footage Thursday night of the Microsoft founder speaking at a Gates Foundation event, telling the crowd about two meetings he had with Trump, one at Trump Tower during the presidential transition and another at the White House last year. Gates said:
“Both times he wanted to know if there was a difference between HPV and HIV. So I was able to explain that those were rarely confused with each other.”
- Republican congressman explains sea-level rise: it’s rocks falling into the sea (The Guardian) A member of Congress has suggested that the White Cliffs of Dover tumbling into the English Channel was causing rising sea levels. Republican Mo Brooks of Alabama pushed back at the notion that rising sea levels were the result of global warming in a hearing of the House Science, Space and Technology on Wednesday.
Instead, Brooks pointed to silt deposition as well as erosion as a cause of rising sea levels. Questioning scientist Phil Duffy of the Woods Hole Research Center, Brooks postulated that silt and mud washed by rivers into the ocean caused water levels to rise as it settled on the sea floor.
- A Liquidity Crisis of Biblical Proportions Is Upon Us (Mauldin Economics) John Mauldin (a GEI contributor) writes:
Corporate debt is now at a level that has not ended well in past cycles. Here’s a chart from Dave Rosenberg:
EU
- Will Second Quarter See Eurozone GDP Slump? (The Daily Shot) The second-quarter euro area GDP growth is now in focus, as a persistent slowdown could mean a delay in the ECB’s QE exit.
Italy
- Italian parties agree government program, say no threat to euro (Reuters) Italy’s two anti-establishment parties agreed the basis for a governing accord on Thursday that would slash taxes, ramp up welfare spending and pose the biggest challenge to the European Union since Britain voted to leave the bloc two years ago. 5-Star leader Luigi Di Maio said he and League chief Matteo Salvini had completed their review of the program drawn up by party officials and they would present it to President Sergio Mattarella by Monday.
A 5-Star source had said the program contained no reference to a possible exit from the euro or “anything that could cause any concern regarding Italy’s euro membership”.
Gaza
- Iran and Qatar Meddling in Gaza Clashes? (Honest Reporting) Hat tip to Sig Silber. Hamas reached a deal with Egypt to stop the Gaza clashes from escalating. According to Israel HaYom, the Egyptians came down hard on Hamas after learning of Iranian and Qatari meddling to keep the Gaza fires burning.
The Saudis accused Qatar of helping Hamas instigate border riots through its envoy to the Gaza Strip, Mohammed Al-Emadi, saying Qatar’s assertion that it was key to convincing Hamas to roll back the riots was false.
“Contrary to reports on Qatari mediation, their role was negligible, effectively nonexistent,” the Egyptian official noted. “Qatar is beginning to show more and more that it represents the interests of Iran.”
Syria
- Syria’s Assad flies to Russia for talks with Putin: Kremlin (Reuters) Syrian President Bashar al-Assad flew to Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s summer residence on the Black Sea for talks on Thursday about the Syrian conflict, the Kremlin said, a visit that underscored Moscow’s status as Assad’s chief backer.
Iraq
- Iraq’s election result is a backlash against foreign influence – and a curveball for the US and Iran (CNBC)
- The final results of Iraq’s first post-ISIS election have revealed a shock win for controversial anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
- Sadr is in the rare position of opposing both the U.S. and Iran, meaning the future of each country’s role in Iraq may be in question.
- Iraq’s stability will depend on its future government’s ability to tackle corruption and bridge its deep sectarian divides.
Indonesia
- How Indonesia is dealing with the new threat posed by returning Islamic State fighters (The Conversation) It was no coincidence that Sunday’s suicide attacks on three Catholic churches in Indonesia came as Muslims began the holy month of Ramadan. Around the time of Ramadan last year, the Islamic State claimed over 300 separate attacks worldwide. Preventing attacks in Indonesia by militants returning from the front lines in the Middle East may take more coordination with Australia.
North Korea
- Trump seeks to placate North Korea’s Kim over uncertain summit (Reuters) U.S. President Donald Trump sought on Thursday to placate North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un after Pyongyang threatened to scrap an unprecedented summit, saying Kim’s security would be guaranteed in any deal and his country would not suffer the fate of Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya, unless that could not be reached.
China
- Beijing’s announcement that it was ending its investigation, which effectively halted a trade worth roughly $1.1 billion last year, came hours after U.S. officials said China was offering a package to slash the U.S. trade deficit by up to $200 billion.
- Another person familiar with the ongoing trade talks said the package may include some elimination of Chinese tariffs already in place on about $4 billion worth of U.S. farm products including fruit, nuts, pork, wine and sorghum.
- China Said to Offer Trump $200 Billion Cut in U.S. Trade Deficit (Bloomberg) China has offered President Donald Trump a $200 billion reduction in its annual trade surplus with the U.S. by increasing imports of American products and other steps, said a Trump administration official. China made the offer during talks in Washington this week as Chinese Vice Premier Liu He visited to try to resolve a trade dispute, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Liu met with Trump Thursday afternoon at the White House.
- Trump: I ‘doubt’ China trade negotiations will succeed (CNBC) See also Tensions between Mnuchin and China hawk Navarro cloud Trump team’s trade talks with Chinese officials.
- President Donald Trump says he doubts trade talks with China will succeed.
- His comments come as Chinese officials negotiate with the Trump administration on trade.
Australia
- As the details emerge on Australia’s new space agency, we (might) finally have lift-off (The Conversation) New jobs and investment for Australia’s growing space industry are promised with the backing of the new space agency. It’s hoped that all states and territories will benefit from a national approach.
