Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 06 Aug 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 pare gains as China leads losses after latest tariff threat (CNBC) Asian shares closed mixed on Monday, paring gains seen earlier as trade returned to the fore after another set of tariffs on U.S. goods were announced by China. The dollar index was firmer at 95.301 at 3:15 p.m. HK/SIN. Spot Brent crude oil futures were trading at $73.23 per barrel at 0602 GMT on Monday, up $0.02. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up $0.15, or 0.2%, at $68.64 barrel. Spot gold was up 0.2% at $1,215.71 an ounce at 0410 GMT, building on its 0.5% gain on Friday.
U.S.
- Trump just made 2 problematic admissions about the Trump Tower meeting (The Washington Post) President Trump has yet again tweeted about his personal legal issues in a way he perhaps shouldn’t have. The Washington Post reported Saturday that Trump had expressed concerns in the past week about his son Donald Trump Jr.’s legal exposure from the 2016 Trump Tower meeting. In a tweet about that report on Sunday, Trump said, “This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics – and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!”
- DACA Ruling Puts Republicans on the Defensive Approaching the Midterms (Washington Monthly) Last week there was a DACA ruling forcing the administration to re-implement the program within 20 days. DACA remains incredibly popular, with upwards of 80% or even 90% support depending on the poll. That means support for DACA cuts into even Trump’s most hardcore supporters. This is not a fight Republicans want front and center as November approaches.
- When Trump attacked LeBron James, it had an unintended effect: other athletes speaking out (The Washington Post) Last week, President Trump took on LeBron James, questioning the intelligence of the Los Angeles Lakers’ star and aiming a dart at him over comparisons to Michael Jordan. Trump’s comment came days after James’s I Promise school opened in Akron, a collaboration between the public schools in his hometown and his charitable foundation. But here’s the thing about the president’s hot take: It’s too late if his hope is to quash athletes’ commentary and accomplish anything other than resonating with his base. See also next article.
- Amid James flap, Melania Trump again charts her own course (Associated Press) First lady Melania Trump’s move to distance herself from President Donald Trump’s criticism of NBA superstar LeBron James was the latest instance of her quiet but seemingly concerted effort to subtly create space between herself and her husband, careful not to criticize him directly while making clear she does not agree with him.
- Obstruction of justice bombshell will explode before midterms (The Hill) Why is President Trump escalating his attacks against special counsel counsel Robert Mueller, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Department of Justice, the FBI and the free press to a fever pitch in recent days? The reason is that the odds are very high that Mueller will offer a declarative public statement before the midterm elections, and very likely before Labor Day, that the president is guilty of obstruction of justice.
- NHC says Hector about to cross into the central Pacific basin as a category 4 hurricane (Reuters) Hurricane Hector became a Category 4 storm for a few hours early Sunday but then dipped back to Category 3, still a dangerous force, as it headed across the Pacific, threatening to hit Hawaii’s Big Island and possibly its active volcano, officials said early Sunday. In a later report, NHC said Hector had returned to Category 4. Hector’s winds have alternated between less than and more than 130 mph, the diving line between Categories 3 and 4, early Sunday as it moved westward at 12 mph Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. It is still 1390 miles southeast of the Hawaian Islands nd is expected to pick up speed to possible hit the Big Island by Wednesday.
- World’s Hottest Rain Fell in California (Newsweek) Earlier this month, the world’s hottest rain fell from the sky in California. It was 119 degrees (Fahrenheit) on July 24 in Imperial, California when it rained, according to weather expert Jeff Masters, prompting the hottest ever rainfall. The rain was so hot that one local resident reported it felt hard on their heart and “made it difficult to breathe.”
EU
- 5 key takeaways about populism and the political landscape in Western Europe (Pew Research Center) Populist movements have gained ground in many Western European countries, from the United Kingdom’s 2016 vote to leave the European Union to Italy’s formation of a populist government this spring. A new Pew Research Center report explores the attitudes that underlie some of these movements, based on interviews with more than 16,000 adults in eight Western European nations.
- Acceptance of islam in Europe (Pew Research Center)
Germany​
- Germany’s excessive intra-EU trade surpluses are a burden on other member countries.
- Surplus-obsessed policies led by Germany are stifling EU’s growth and employment.
- Germany’s current political crises will leave these policies in place for the foreseeable future.
Russia
- Tougher Russia sanctions face skepticism from Senate Republicans (The Hill) An effort to slap new financial penalties on Russia ahead of the midterms is facing pushback from Senate Republicans who question whether that’s the best approach. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are under pressure to act amid growing concern that Moscow is trying to influence the November elections, with control of Congress hanging in the balance.
But GOP senators are becoming increasingly skeptical that passing a new bill – roughly a year after Congress imposed stiff penalties on Moscow – will be enough to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from interfering with congressional campaigns.
North Korea
- Experts urge caution over latest North Korean move (The Hill) North Korea’s move to return dozens of boxes of U.S. war remains has been repeatedly celebrated by President Trump as an example of the country keeping its word, but experts are warning against hailing the action as a major step in broader talks to push Pyongyang toward denuclearization. Experts note that North Korea in the past has returned remains back to the United States to coincide with a bid for a place on the world stage, with its latest release of 55 boxes of U.S. remains from the Korean War being viewed as a negotiating tool to help Pyongyang stay in the Trump administration’s good graces.
China
- The US is at Risk of Losing a Trade War with China (Project Syndicate) Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz writes:
The “best” outcome of President Donald Trump’s narrow focus on the US trade deficit with China would be improvement in the bilateral balance, matched by an increase of an equal amount in the deficit with some other country (or countries). In fact, significantly reducing the bilateral trade deficit will prove difficult.
- China’s bullying is only driving Taiwan further away (Inkstone) China sees Taiwan as a wayward province in need of reunification. But since the election of pro-independence President of Tsai Ing-wen in 2016, relations between China and the self-ruled island have worsened. While many blame Tsai’s political stance for the deterioration in ties, it’s actually China’s heavy-handed tactics that are driving Taiwanese further away, says Taiwan Studies expert J. Michael Cole. See next article.
- ‘Sorry, try again,’ China tells US airlines (Inkstone) US airlines have already caved to Chinese demands over how they refer to the self-ruled island of Taiwan. But it’s still not good enough. In a statement released on Thursday, the Civil Aviation Administration of China singled out United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, saying their changes were “still incomplete.” Checks by Inkstone on Friday show that in some instances, those three airlines list Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, alone with no mention of country. In other instances, Taiwan is listed as a separate territory.
Earlier this week, virtually all foreign airlines complied with Chinese demands to recognize Taiwan as part of China.
The sovereignty of Taiwan has always been a thorny issue. The island has been self-ruling since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.
China sees Taiwan as an inseparable part of its territory, with the eventual goal of unification, by force if necessary.
- Chinese Stocks are Down Again (Twitter)
Canada
White House is not ruling out slapping auto tariffs on Canada, an official says (CNBC)
- A handshake agreement between the United States and European Union reached in late July may have staved off the imposition of auto tariffs for German, French and Italian carmakers.
- The White House is reserving the right to impose the tariffs on vehicles made in Canada, a senior administration official told CNBC.
- Canada remains on the sidelines of potential NAFTA negotiations, which the U.S. and Mexico have continued in Washington this week.