Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 24 July 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 stocks advance with China leading the charge; yuan slips (CNBC) Asian stocks advanced on Tuesday, with China outperforming regional markets, as investors kept an eye on bond yields and the falling Chinese yuan. The dollar index firmed to trade at 94.717. Brent crude oil was down $0.19 cents (0.3%) at $72.87 a barrel by 0345 GMT. U.S. crude was down $0.21 cents, or 0.3%, at $67.68 a barrel. Spot gold was down 0.2% at $1,221.61 an ounce at 0359 GMT.
U.S.
- Trump can revoke critics’ security clearances if he wants – but it likely wouldn’t change much (The Washington Post) The president is considering removing the security clearances of these five:
- Former FBI director James B. Comey, fired by President Trump.
- Former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr.
- Former NSA director Michael Hayden
- Former national security adviser Susan E. Rice
- Former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe, fired earlier this year.
- Trump Proposes Mueller Interview With No Obstruction Questions (Bloomberg) President Donald Trump would agree to an interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators if it’s limited to questions on whether his presidential campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 election, lawyer Rudy Giuliani said on Monday night. Trump is demanding in return that he isn’t asked questions about obstruction of justice in the probe into election interference, under a proposal the president’s legal team submitted to Mueller, Giuliani said.
The president’s legal team is concerned that Mueller and his staff might believe witnesses who contradicted Trump’s account, such as former FBI Director James Comey, Giuliani said. That could leave the president vulnerable to a perjury charge, he added.
- New Audio Materials Seized in Cohen Inquiry Are Turned Over to Prosecutors (The New York Times) Federal prosecutors in Manhattan who are investigating President Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, have received 12 audio “items” that had been seized by the F.B.I. but had been withheld from investigators, according to a court filing on Monday. The materials, presumably audio recordings, were turned over to prosecutors on Friday after “the parties” withdrew claims that the items were subject to attorney-client privilege, the filing said.
The authorities have been investigating Mr. Cohen’s role in making hush-money payments to women in advance of the 2016 election, and whether any such action violated federal campaign finance laws.
- Support for Roe v. Wade hits record high ahead of Supreme Court confirmation battle: NBC-WSJ poll (CNBC)
- Support for Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in the United States, has hit a record high in the new NBC-WSJ poll ahead of the battle over Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the high court.
- The survey shows that 71 percent of Americans believe that Roe should not be overturned, while only 23 percent want the ruling reversed.
- Defenders of abortion rights are concerned that Kavanaugh, who has a conservative track record on the federal bench, could fundamentally change the balance of the top court and put Roe at risk.
- 463 migrant parents may have been deported without their children, according to a joint court filing on Monday by the federal government and the American Civil Liberties Union.
- As of Monday, 879 parents had been reunited with their children, according to the filing.
- What liberals (still) get wrong about Trump’s support (The Guardian) Liberals presume that because Trump is so unconventional in style, his coalition must be equally unconventional. But it’s not. The data clearly shows that Trump’s political coalition is pretty much the traditional Republican coalition. And the often virulent behavior of anti-Trump partisans has made partisan Republicans especially unwilling to abandon their leader even when he stumbles.
UK
- Theresa May’s Impossible Choice (The New Yorker) May’s task has been to quell a populist wave, not ride it. Her best hope has been to contain the damage on all sides. With Brexit looming, the Prime Minister is battling Trump, Europe, and her own party.
- Number of women and children who joined Isis ‘significantly underestimated’ (The Guardian) Experts have warned of the growing threat of women and minors linked to Islamic State, suggesting that the number returning to Britain from Syria and Iraq has been significantly underestimated. According to a new report from King’s College London, a combination of an absence of government data and a changing view within ISIS of when women should take up arms means that the danger they pose is likely to be much greater than official figures suggest. It is now estimated that 13% of outsiders who became associated with ISIS were women and 12% were minors.
The ICSR researchers Joana Cook and Gina Vale said 850 British citizens became affiliated with Isis in Iraq and Syria, including 145 women and 50 minors. Of the 425 who returned to the UK, only two women and four minors were confirmed. The figures are believed to be vast underestimates due to an absence of official government data
Greece
- Greece wildfires: dozens dead as holiday resort devastated (The Guardian) More than 49 people have been confirmed dead and scores more injured in a devastating wildfire that swept through a small resort town near Athens, the Greek fire department has said. Huge flames trapped families with children as they tried to flee from Mati, 18 miles (29 km) east of the Greek capital, where the fire hit on Monday afternoon. Fires are also raging in Rafina and Kineta.
Poland
- Poland’s Andrzej Bargiel becomes the first to ski down from summit of K2 (Euronews) Andrzej Bargiel has skied his way into the record books by becoming the first man to descend one of the world’s highest mountains. And it was captured on video. The 30-year from Poland made his way down from the summit of K2 to its base camp on Sunday (July 22). The 8,611-metre mountain is the second-highest on the planet and the most difficult one to climb. He was able to link snowy sections throughout his entire descent, a vertical drop of 11,329 feet. From Wikipedia:
Iran
- Trump Threatens Iran, But He’s Already At War (The Real News Network) With a bellicose tweet from Trump and a growing meddling campaign to squeeze Iran’s economy, the U.S. is trying to make the Iranian people suffer into submission, says Trita Parsi:
Russia
- McFaul expected to meet with Trump’s top adviser on Russia at White House (The Washington Post) Michael A. McFaul, a former U.S. diplomat and fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, will visit the White House on Tuesday for a private meeting with President Trump’s top adviser on Russia, according to two people familiar with the planned meeting. McFaul, who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia during the Obama administration, will meet with Fiona Hill, a senior director on the National Security Council who joined the president for last week’s summit with Putin in Helsinki, said the people familiar with the matter, who were not authorized to speak publicly.
Hill is widely seen within the administration as one of Trump’s most hawkish advisers on Russia and has written extensively and critically of Putin, including a 2013 biography of the former KGB officer.
- Hackers from a Russian state-sponsored group infiltrated the control rooms of U.S. power companies, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
- The attack was first detected in the spring of 2016 and continued throughout 2017, the Journal reported, citing officials at the Department of Homeland Security.
Japan
North Korea
- North Korea wants US to make ‘bold move’ towards peace before denuclearization, source says (CNN) Continued negotiations between the United States and North Korea hinge on Washington’s willingness to make a “bold move” and agree to a peace treaty with Pyongyang, according to an official with close knowledge of North Korea’s position on the matter.
If the US is unwilling to replace the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War with a permanent peace that would ensure the survival of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s regime, Pyongyang will likely not proceed further with denuclearization talks, the source said.
The establishment of a legally binding peace treaty would require the approval of two-thirds of the US Senate.
- North Korea: satellite images show dismantling of missile test facilities – report (The Guardian) Satellite images indicate North Korea has begun dismantling key facilities at a site used to develop engines for ballistic missiles, in a first step toward fulfilling a pledge made to US President Donald Trump at a June summit, reports a Washington-based think tank. Work is seen as ‘significant confidence building measure’ after the denuclearisation pledge made at summit with Donald Trump.
China
- Russia, China to Act Against U.S. Defenses in Asia (Newsweek) Russia and China plan to take retaliatory measures against the deployment of U.S. missile defense systems in Japan and South Korea, Moscow’s ambassador to Beijing warned on Monday.
Speaking to reporters, Ambassador Andrei Denisov said such actions by the neighboring Asian countries pose a security threat to Russia and its regional ally China. He suggested that the decisions from Japan and South Korea would require a response from Moscow and Beijing.
Argentina
- Michael Hudson: Argentina’s New $50 Billion IMF Loan Is Designed to Replay its 2001 Crisis (The Real News Network) The recently elected neoliberal government of Mauricio Macri has decided to seek a $50 billion IMF credit line, which will only enable more capital flight for the upper class and greater unpayable debt for the rest of the population, says the economist Michael Hudson: