Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 30 November 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 investors look to crucial Trump-Xi talks at G-20 summit (CNBC) Asia Pacific markets ended mixed on Friday as investors waited for a highly anticipated meeting between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit in Argentina, which many hope will help ease escalating trade tensions between the two countries. The dollar traded down at 96.77 against a basket of its peers Friday afternoon during Asian hours. International Brent crude oil futures were at $59.81 per barrel at 0347 GMT, up $0.30 (0.5%) from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up $0.20 cents, or 0.4%, at $51.65 per barrel. Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,223.75 per ounce
U.S.
- Federal agents raid office of lawyer who previously did tax work for Trump (The Hill) Federal agents have reportedly raided the Chicago City Hall office of a lawyer who previously did tax work for President Trump. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that federal agents removed everyone from the office of Chicago Finance Committee Chairman Ed Burke on Thursday morning, covering the floor-to-ceiling windows with brown paper.
- Michael Cohen Takes Mueller Inside the Trump Organization (The Atlantic) The president’s former personal lawyer admitted lying to Congress about efforts in 2016 to build a Trump Tower in Moscow and about how often he discussed the deal with Trump during the campaign. See also Three Remarkable Things About Michael Cohen’s Plea:
These developments would, under normal circumstances, end a presidency.
- Rudy Giuliani Tries to Distance Trump From Trump Tower Moscow: ‘This Was Cohen’s Deal’ (The Daily Beast) The president told Mueller he abandoned the proposal by mid-2016 and didn’t know when Cohen ditched it, according to Trump’s lawyer.
- Trump still owes lenders including Deutsche Bank as much as $480 million (MarketWatch) President Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosure form reports liabilities to banks and financial services firms of between $356.15 million and $480.35 million, including up to $175 million to Deutsche Bank U.S. and $150 million to Ladder Capital, a listed real estate investment trust. Robert Mueller, the special counsel heading the federal inquiry probing alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential race, subpoenaed records regarding Trump’s loans in December 2017, as well information on former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, according to The New York Times.
- GOP senator sinks nomination of controversial judicial pick (CNN) Republican Sen. Tim Scott announced Thursday he would oppose President Donald Trump’s nominee to be a US district judge in North Carolina, effectively ending the nomination that had been plagued with accusations that Thomas Farr supported measures that disenfranchised African-American voters.
- Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg ordered investigation into George Soros: report (MarketWatch) Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg asked staff to investigate George Soros’ financial interests in January after the billionaire criticized Facebook during a speech at Davos, Switzerland, The New York Times reported Thursday night.
- We’re an opioid nation. It is killing us. (Fabius Maximus) FM has contributed to GEI.
- “Life expectancy at birth decreased for the first time since 1993 by 0.2 years between 2014 and 2015, and then decreased another 0.1 years between 2015 and 2016.
- The age-adjusted death rate for drug overdose in the U.S. increased 72% between 2006 and 2016 to 19.8 deaths per 100,000 population in 2016.
- Between 2006 and 2016, the age-adjusted suicide death rate increased 2%, from 11.0 to 13.5 deaths per 100,000 resident population
- Among men ages 25 – 34, death rates for chronic liver disease and cirrhosis increased by an average of 7.9% per year during 2006 – 2016. Among women in the same age group, this increase averaged 11.4% per year.”
UK
- Theresa May rules out Norway-style Brexit compromise with Labour (The Guardian) Theresa May has ruled out any plan B involving a Norway-style compromise deal with the Labour party in order to deliver a parliamentary consensus on Brexit, saying the opposition party’s refusal to accept the backstop arrangement put the UK on a course for no deal.
Syria
- Syria says downs ‘hostile targets’ in suspected Israeli attack (Reuters) Syrian air defenses shot down “hostile targets” on Thursday, state media said, in an area regional intelligence sources said contains Iran-backed assets, while Russian media said no Israeli jet had been downed as earlier reported. See also Syria did not shoot down Israeli war plane: RIA cites source.
Russia
- In abrupt switch, Trump cancels Putin meeting, cites Ukraine crisis (Reuters) U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday abruptly canceled a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Argentina, registering his disapproval of Russia’s treatment of Ukraine and casting new uncertainty over U.S.-Russian ties.
China
- Discussions around trade are expected to dominate the G-20 summit, with the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping likely to take center stage.
- Most experts are not expecting a major breakthrough in the ongoing U.S.-China tariff fight.
- “At most, there might be an agreement for the president to withhold further tariffs … in exchange for discussions over the next several months,” said Gary Locke, former U.S. ambassador to China.
Sometime around 2038, roughly two decades from now, China will surpass the US in military spending, and become the world’s dominant superpower not only in population and economic growth – China is set to overtake the US economy by no later than 2032 – but in military strength and global influence as well.
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