Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 28 June 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.
Please share this article – Go to very top of page, right hand side for social media buttons.
​Global
- Markets in Asia mixed as trade concerns simmer; China gets some reprieve (CNBC) Asian stocks were mixed on Thursday as investors digested developments related to the U.S. stance on foreign investment amid lingering trade concerns. The dollar index was steady at 95.247. U.S. crude futures slipped 0.32% to trade at $72.53 per barrel after settling more than 3% higher in the last session. Brent crude futures were a touch softer at $77.55. Spot gold was 0.1% higher at $1,252.74 an ounce, as of 0400 GMT. In the previous session, the metal touched $1,250.30, its lowest since mid-December.
- Is Oil on Its Way Back to $100? (Financial Sense) Oil companies will still have to find and produce oil, and as long as companies are being punished for making long-term investments, there will likely be a shortfall down the road and a possible return to $100 oil.
- Birth Rates to Decline in Many EM Countries (The Daily Shot)
U.S.
- Trump’s Push to Ban Iranian Oil Could Mean Pain at the Pump (Foreign Policy) Big buyers of Iranian oil such as China and India are seen as unlikely to cut purchases to zero, but sanctions will still send crude prices higher and the U.S. consumer will pay the cost at the pump and heating homes.
- Abortion rights in ‘dire, immediate danger’ as Anthony Kennedy retires (The Guardian) Potential nominees shortlisted by Trump are believed to be jurists who would overturn the landmark decision, Roe v. Wade. Pro-choice advocates said Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement represents a “dire, immediate danger” to women’s reproductive freedom. See also Kennedy exit gives Trump chance to reshape court for decades (The Hill).
- Bill Clinton: Trump has poured ‘poison’ down ‘America’s throat’ (The Hill) Former President Clinton is suggesting that President Trump is at least partly to blame for a lack of civility in politics, saying he has poured “poison” down “America’s throat.” Clinton said during a Tuesday interview on “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah“, referring to a line from then-GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s 2015 speech announcing his White House run:
“It started off calling Mexicans rapists and murderers.”
- The Democracy Project: Reversing a Crisis of Confidence (The Democracy Project) Freedom House, the George W. Bush Institute, and the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement commissioned a series of focus groups and a national survey examining American attitudes about democratic principles and institutions at home and support for U.S. policies that advance democracy abroad.
- Seventeen states sue Trump administration over family separations (The Guardian) States including New York, California and Washington filed lawsuits accusing government of denying people their rights. New Jersey attorney general Gurbir Grewal said in a statement:
“The administration’s practice of separating families is cruel, plain and simple. Every day, it seems like the administration is issuing new, contradictory policies and relying on new, contradictory justifications. But we can’t forget: The lives of real people hang in the balance.”
- Supreme Court Delivers Blow to Public Sector Unions – Might Make Unions Stronger (The Real News Network) Larry Cohen, chair of Our Revolution, argues that even though public sector unions will suffer economically from the Supreme Court’s Janus vs AFSCME decision, it has already caused them to mobilize and organize, making their members more militant and politicized.
EU
- The irrational fear of migrants carries a deadly price for Europe (The Guardian) As far-right politicians reach positions of power in several countries, their influence is coming to bear. Their aim, rather than to make a perceived problem go away, is to deliberately stoke a sense of crisis and panic, to frame this form of migration as an existential threat to Europe.
This has implications not only for the rights of migrants, but for the shape that our politics will take in years to come. The most extreme of these leaders are trying to use the issue of migration to push a vision of the nation based on ethnic privilege and defined in opposition to racialised outsiders, be they Muslims, or unspecified dark-skinned “migrants” or indeed Roma.
- Nazi Sympathizers Pushing to Take Over Europe’s Spy Agencies (The Daily Beast) Far-right politicians have taken over the security apparatus in Austria and Italy. Next on their list: the intelligence agencies.
Syria
- Syria’s role in chemical weapons attacks to be investigated (The Guardian) The Syrian government’s alleged role in a wave of chemical weapons attacks during the country’s civil war will be investigated, it has been confirmed. Members of the world chemical weapons watchdog agreed to expand its powers to identify those behind the attacks in the past three years.
Meeting in the Hague, more than 140 countries affiliated to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) voted by 82 to 24 to expand the body’s powers from simply investigating whether a chemical attack had occurred, to attributing responsibility.
Iran
- Iran reopens uranium feedstock plant in preparation to boost enrichment (Reuters) Iran has reopened a nuclear plant idle for nine years, its atomic energy agency (AEOI) said on Wednesday, as Tehran prepares to increase uranium enrichment capacity if a nuclear deal with world powers falls apart after the U.S. withdrawal.
Russia
- Deal struck for Putin-Trump summit, Helsinki possible venue (Reuters) Moscow and Washington struck a deal on Wednesday to hold a summit soon between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, a move likely to worry some U.S. allies and draw a fiery reaction from some of Trump’s critics at home.
North Korea
- Pompeo corrects Trump, says North Korea is a nuclear threat (The Hill) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday in Senate testimony that North Korea still poses a nuclear threat, directly contradicting President Trump’s claims from earlier this month. Pompeo also contradicted the president’s claim that remains of 200 American soldiers had been returned. See also Satellite images show North Korea upgrading nuclear research facility: report.
- North Korea understands U.S. on ‘complete denuclearization’: Pompeo (Reuters) U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday he was confident that North Korea understood the scope of the U.S. desire for complete denuclearization as the two countries negotiate after President Donald Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
South Korea
- Mattis assures South Korea on U.S. troops, says commitment ‘ironclad’ (Reuters) U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Thursday assured South Korea of an “ironclad” commitment to its security, including keeping U.S. troop levels unaltered, even as diplomats seek an agreement with North Korea on denuclearization.
China
- China has become a key influence in the Middle East amid changing regional dynamics.
- Perhaps the biggest area for growth in Chinese relations is in the Gulf states. China is at a unique advantage in that region as U.S. relationships evolve.
- In Egypt, China has found an enthusiastic participant for its Belt and Road Initiative
