Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 13 March 2019
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
- Asia trades mostly lower amid fresh uncertainties over Brexit (CNBC) Asia Pacific markets were mostly lower on Wednesday amid fresh global uncertainties after U.K. lawmakers again rejected the terms of a deal for Britain to withdraw from the European Union. The dollar index traded lower at 96.999, after dropping from levels above 97.200 in the previous week. U.S. crude rose 0.7% to $57.27 a barrel while international benchmark Brent was up 0.46% at $66.98 at 3:29 p.m. HK/SIN. Spot gold was up 0.3% at $1,305.21 per ounce, as of 0329 GMT, after touching its highest since March 1 at $1,305.69 earlier in the session.
- ‘Almost certain extinction’: 1,200 species under severe threat across world (The Guardian) More than 1,200 species globally face threats to their survival in more than 90% of their habitat and “will almost certainly face extinction” without conservation intervention, according to new research. Scientists working with Australia’s University of Queensland and the Wildlife Conservation Society have mapped threats faced by 5,457 species of birds, mammals and amphibians to determine which parts of a species’ habitat range are most affected by known drivers of biodiversity loss. For research details see Hotspots of human impact on threatened terrestrial vertebrates (PLOS Biology)
U.S.
- Washington Memo: Mueller Report Has Washington Spinning (and It’s Not Even Filed) (The New York Times) Washington – jittery, full of rumor, like a becalmed ship in the dead air before a coming storm – is waiting for the report of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, into Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether President Trump or his aides conspired in the effort or obstructed justice. It may or may not be the report of the century, it may or may not be ready soon, and it may be only a few pages long. But it is unquestionably one of the capital’s most anticipated documents since the Starr Report on President Bill Clinton arrived by the truckload on Capitol Hill in September 1998. See also Dems flock to Pelosi on Trump impeachment (The Hill)
- Trump ex-campaign chief Paul Manafort faces second sentencing in case lodged by special counsel Robert Mueller (CNBC)
- President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, is set to be sentenced Wednesday in federal court in a case brought by special counsel Robert Mueller.
- Manafort could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison at his final sentencing hearing in Washington, D.C., federal court before Judge Amy Berman Jackson.
- That sentence could potentially be added to the 47-month prison term Manafort already received in Alexandria, Virginia, from U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis.
- 737 MAXs flew 7,600 flights in the U.S. in the past month, including 214 out of DCA (MSN Travel) U.S. airlines flew more than 7,600 flights in Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 aircraft in the last month – all without a reported incident. Boeing’s next-generation 737 models have come under intense scrutiny over safety concerns following the fatal crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on Sunday. All 73 passengers and crew members aboard the plane were killed in the crash. Another Boeing 737 Max 8, Lion Air Flight 610, crashed last year shortly after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia. That crash killed 189 people.
The result of a second crash of a new model of plane – the first Boeing 737 Max 8s were delivered in 2016 – has caused governments around the globe to ground the aircraft until further investigation is complete. China, Indonesia and Ethiopia too immediate actions to prevent further flights by 737 MAX8s. As of Tuesday evening, the Untied States and Canada were the only countries where the aircraft are operated that have not grounded the planes over concerns about the aircraft’s computer-aided flight control system – specifically in the planes’ automated anti-stall system.
- Pence, GOP senators discuss offer to kill Trump emergency disapproval resolution (The Hill) Vice President Pence is discussing an offer with Republican senators that could lead to the defeat of a Democratic resolution overturning President Trump’s emergency declaration to build a wall on the Mexican border, according to GOP sources briefed on the matter. Under the deal discussed between Pence and GOP senators, Trump would sign legislation reining in his power to declare future national emergencies if they defeat the resolution of disapproval. See also McConnell opens door to changing president’s emergency powers. Killing the resolution on the Republican-controlled Senate floor would spare the president a major embarrassment and avoid him having to issue the first veto of his presidency.
But there is some skepticism among GOP senators whether Trump will actually go through with it. And the plan is hurt by the fact that a bill to curb the president’s power to declare national emergencies won’t come to the Senate floor until after the March recess.
- Felicity Huffman among dozens charged over admissions fraud at top US schools (The Guardian) U.S. federal prosecutors have charged the Hollywood actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, along with almost 50 other people, over a $25m scheme to help wealthy Americans buy their children’s way into elite universities including Yale, Georgetown, Stanford and the University of Southern California.
Two hundred FBI agents were involved in the investigation, dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues”, which exposed how parents bribed college coaches and insiders at testing centers to get their children into some of the most elite schools in the country, federal prosecutors said on Tuesday.
- FBI contradicts Trump claim that China hacked Clinton’s private email server (The Hill) See next item. The FBI on Wednesday said it had found no evidence about President Trump’s claim that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server was compromised by hackers working for the Chinese government. In a brief statement, the bureau said:
“The FBI has not found any evidence the servers were compromised.”
- Trump Tweets About China Hacking Clinton (Twitter)
- Trump’s U.S. Coal Consumption Is Less Than Obama’s (Forbes) Candidate Trump talked a tremendous amount about bringing back the coal industry if he was elected President. Unfortunately for President Trump, and especially coal miners, the industry has been in a secular decline.
EU
- EU’s Barnier questions point of extending Brexit (Reuters) The European Union’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier questioned whether there was any point in delaying Britain’s departure from the EU beyond March 29, saying on Wednesday that the British government would need to justify any request.
UK
- Theresa May’s Brexit deal is dead – MPs must now take over (Financial Times) Parliament must avoid political chaos and create space to explore other exit options. After two years of tortuous negotiations, Theresa May’s strategy for taking the UK out of the EU lies in ruins. She met defeat because of fear that the so-called Irish backstop would permanently trap the UK in the embrace of the EU. See also Theresa May loses another Brexit vote – is it time she just gave up? (The Conversation)
- Brexit crisis deepens as British lawmakers to vote on no-deal exit (Reuters) Britain’s parliament will vote on Wednesday on whether to leave the European Union in 16 days without an agreement as the government said it would eliminate import tariffs on a wide range of goods in a no-deal Brexit scenario.
Iran
- Iran threatens defense overhaul to counter “suspicious nuclear projects” (Reuters) A senior Iranian security official on Wednesday accused regional powers of spending money on “suspicious nuclear projects”, and warned that such threats would force Tehran to revise its defense strategy.
China
- China: lure of homeland ‘no simple choice’ for expat academics (Times Higher Education) China experts say that it is too early to tell whether the country’s massive recruitment drive – partly crafted to meet the employment needs of a burgeoning university system, with a reported $222 billion (£168 billion) plunged into higher education last year alone – will strip anglophone institutions of much-needed academics. The schemes offer incentives such as generous start-up packages, salary top-ups and services to help recruits’ families find their feet. See Western universities feel the strain of China talent tussle. China’s rapidly improving universities attract a constant flow of world-class talent, nestled in what is becoming the epicentre of global economic activity – with relatively modest living costs to boot.
Academic freedom concerns may not deter a generation of expatriate Chinese academics from returning to the motherland, lured by lavishly funded recruitment schemes such as the Thousand Talents Plan.
But pragmatic matters such as pricey rents and smog-choked cities might help Western university systems retain Chinese-born doctoral graduates who are a mainstay of their staff.
Australia
- Cardinal Pell: From Vatican apartment to Australian prison cell (Reuters) For two decades, George Pell was the dominant figure in the Catholic Church in Australia – a boy from a gold mining town whose ambition, intellect and knack for befriending influential people propelled him to become the third-most senior official in the Vatican.
Venezuela
- China offers help to Venezuela to restore power (Reuters) China offered on Wednesday to help Venezuela restore its power grid, after President Nicolas Maduro accused U.S. counterpart Donald Trump of cyber “sabotage” that plunged the South American country into its worst blackout on record.
.
