Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 10 Sep 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
- Asia markets mixed as US-China trade jitters linger (CNBC) Asian markets were mixed on Monday as trade tensions between the U.S. and China remained in focus. The U.S. dollar index was at 95.531 as of 3:08 p.m. HK/SIN, climbing from its earlier low. Brent crude futures rose 0.92% to $77.54 a barrel. U.S. crude futures also gained by 0.68% to $68.21 a barrel. Spot gold was down 0.1% to $1,194.61 at 0225 GMT, having fallen 0.4% in the previous session.
U.S.
- Florence forecast to become ‘major hurricane,’ moving towards southeastern US (Fox News) Hurricane Florence regained its strength Sunday as weather officials predicted it will turn into a “major” storm as it aims for a possible hit on the southeastern U.S. later this week. According to the National Hurricane Center, Florence is “forecast to become a major hurricane on Monday,” and is expected to grow larger and move faster over the next few days. Sig Silber is following all tropical cyclones with special focus on Florence with regular reports. The latest: Tropical Cyclone Update for September 8, 2018 – Storms Approaching Land, last updated Sunday evening.
- U.S. President Trump facing a ‘coup’: Bannon (Reuters) U.S. President Donald Trump is facing a “coup”, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon told Reuters, pointing to an anonymous column in The New York Times written by an unnamed senior administration official detailing resistance within the Trump administration. Bannon said:
“What you saw the other day was as serious as it can get. This is a direct attack on the institutions. This is a coup, okay”.
- Woodward: Draft Trump tweet alarmed Pentagon officials (The Hill) Veteran journalist Bob Woodward on Sunday described an incident in which President Trump once drafted a tweet that North Korea would have read as a warning of an imminent U.S. attack. The tweet would have said U.S. was pulling out dependents from South Korea. Woodward said:
“At that moment, there was a sense of profound alarm in the Pentagon leadership that ‘my God, one tweet and we have reliable information that the North Koreans are going to read this as an attack is imminent’.”
- Trump wants to toughen the nation’s libel laws, but he isn’t likely to succeed (Los Angeles Times) On Wednesday, in response to the publication of excerpts from author Bob Woodward’s new, critical book on his presidency, Trump called on “Washington politicians” to change our nation’s libel laws.
Earlier this year Trump called libel laws “a sham and a disgrace,” shortly after his lawyers had threatened a possible libel suit in an unsuccessful attempt to block publication of Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.” He then renewed his campaign promise to “open up” America’s libel laws, pledging “to take a strong look” at them.
- Trump administration to take tough stance against International Criminal Court (Reuters) The United States on Monday will adopt an aggressive posture against the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, threatening sanctions against its judges if they proceed with an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Americans in Afghanistan.
- Nike Orders Rose in Four-Day Period After Kaepernick Ad Debut (Bloomberg) Online sales of Nike apparel and shoes surged in the four days after quarterback-turned-activist Colin Kaepernick became the face of a new advertising campaign. Sales dipped in the same four-day period last year.
Nike’s Kaepernick ad debuted Monday afternoon, a U.S. holiday, drawing immediate praise and ire from celebrities and customers alike. From Sunday through Wednesday, product orders rose 27 percent, according to digital-commerce researcher Edison Trends, which collects receipt data from over 200 online vendors. In the same four-day period last year, product orders dropped 2 percent.
- ‘I Don’t Talk’ That Way, Trump Says. Except When He Does. (The New York Times) As President Trump tries to rebut the portrayal in the latest attention-grabbing book, he has denied not only saying the things attributed to him, but also that he has ever said anything like them. The problem for Mr. Trump is that, in some cases at least, the record shows that he has and they are enumerated in this article. Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter on Friday morning about “Fear: Trump in the White House,” the new volume to be published by Bob Woodward next week:
“The Woodward book is a scam. I don’t talk the way I am quoted. If I did I would not have been elected President. These quotes were made up.”
- We Found the ‘Plaid Shirt Guy’ Who Trolled Trump’s Rally With Hilarious Faces (The Daily Beast) During Thursday night’s rally in Billings, Montana, something truly unusual happened. Standing directly behind the president during his 75-minute rant was a plaid-clad young man, at times flashing incredulous, mocking faces directly to the camera as the president incoherently blustered about his critics. That man was eventually yanked – on live TV – from his spot behind Trump. Clips of the ordeal went viral and the plaid-clad individual became known as Plaid Shirt Guy, with outlets from Reuters to BuzzFeed reporting on it. Plaid Shirt Guy has been identified as 17-year old Tyler Linfesty who had been randomly chosen to stand behind the podium.
Although it was not visible throughout much of the speech, Linfesty was proudly sporting a sticker for the Democratic Socialists of America – the political organization that includes many of the upstart leftist candidates currently challenging Democratic lawmakers for their seats.
EU
- A decade after Lehman, Europe remains on economic crutches (Reuters) Ten years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the onset of the global financial crisis, much of the industrialized world has yet to fully recover and this will be all too evident at the European Central Bank’s policy meeting on Thursday.
UK
- UK PM May’s Brexit plans opposed by 80 rebels in her party: former minister (Reuters) British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party faces a “catastrophic split” if she persists with her so-called Chequers proposals on Brexit and 80 or more of her lawmakers are prepared to vote against the proposals, a former junior minister said.
The United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on March 29, yet little is clear: There is, so far, no full exit deal and some rebels say May could have trouble pushing an agreement through the British parliament.
Sweden
- Sweden election: political uncertainty looms after deadlock (The Guardian) Sweden faces a protracted period of political uncertainty after an election that left the two main parliamentary blocs tied but well short of a majority, and the far-right Sweden Democrats promising to wield “real influence” in parliament despite making more modest gains than many had predicted. The populist, anti-immigrant party won 17.6% of the vote, according to preliminary official results – well up on the 12.9% it scored in 2014, but far below the 25%-plus some polls had predicted earlier in the summer. It looked highly likely, however, to play a significant role as kingmaker. See also Sweden Election: Ruling Party Scrapes A Win As Far-Right Gains Support (NPR) and Swedish Social Democrat PM says will not step down after vote (Reuters)
Russia
- Russians Say Their Government Did Not Try to Influence U.S. Presidential Election (Pew Research Center) Russians are about evenly split over whether their country tries to influence the internal affairs of other countries: 45% say yes, 46% say no. In contrast, an overwhelming majority of Russians (85%) think the U.S. government interferes in the domestic affairs of other countries.
India
- Rupee Slips to New Low (Twitter)
Japan
- Japan’s Abe aims for constitution change in bid for extended term (Reuters) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, eyeing an historic extended term, reaffirmed on Monday his resolve to revise the nation’s post-war, pacifist constitution and said he hoped his party could submit a proposal to parliament later this year.
North Korea
- Charges against North Korea mark new phase in cyber crackdown (The Hill) Department of Justice (DOJ) officials have unsealed a massive, 179 page-long complaint against a North Korean hacker, marking a significant benchmark in U.S. efforts to crack down on foreign cyberattacks.
The document alleges that a North Korean programmer, alongside others, executed major attacks with the backing of Kim Jong Un’s government. And DOJ officials are touting the findings as an example of their willingness to go after foreign cyber actors who engage in cyberattacks against the U.S. and its allies.
China
- US-China trade war worries are ‘overdone,’ says CLSA CEO (CNBC) Worries about the U.S.-China trade war are overdone because the impact on China will not be as immediate and challenging as many investors expect, according to the chief executive of a widely followed investment group.
- China says it will respond if the U.S. takes new steps on trade (Reuters) China will respond if the United States takes any new steps on trade, the foreign ministry said on Monday, after President Donald Trump warned he was ready to slap tariffs on virtually all Chinese imports into the United States.
- Trump’s trade war against China may have a ‘perverse reaction,’ says CLSA economist (CNBC)
- Eric Fishwick, CLSA’s head of economic research, said the trade war may well “have the perverse reaction” of encouraging China to build its political and economic influence.
- The ongoing tariffs battle between Washington and Beijing, he said, isn’t just about Americans buying too many Chinese goods: It’s also because the U.S. is uncomfortable with China’s growing power.
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