Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 29 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.
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​Global
- Major Asian markets close higher as US-China trade talks resume this week (CNBC) Most major Asian markets closed higher on Friday afternoon, as hopes rise on reported progress in trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing this week. The U.S. dollar index was higher at 97.129 after rising from lows below 97.0 yesterday. Brent crude futures added 0.27% to $68.00 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also rose 0.42% to $59.56 per barrel. Spot gold was down about 0.1% at $1,288.74 per ounce by 0507 GMT, after declining about 1.5% in the previous session, the most in over seven months. Gold is headed for its worst month since August 2018.
- Mosquito-spread diseases may endanger millions in new places due to climate change (The Guardian) Half a billion more people could be at risk from mosquito-transmitted diseases within 30 years as a result of the warming climate, according to a new study. Canada and parts of northern Europe could be newly exposed to the threat. People there could come into contact with yellow fever, Zika, dengue and chikungunya, as well as other emerging diseases.
U.S.
- Trump unleashes on critics in fiery glimpse of 2020 campaign (The Hill) President Trump on Thursday unleashed on his critics and celebrated his “vindication” from the investigation into Russia’s election interference in his first campaign rally since special counsel Robert Mueller concluded his work. The president used the investigation’s end to cast himself as the victim of efforts by establishment politicians and law enforcement officers to take him and his supporters down, characterizing their efforts as “fraud,” “hoax” and “scam.” His freewheeling condemnation of the special counsel’s probe, paired with attacks on Democrats and reliable applause lines for his base, provided a glimpse of what’s to come leading up to Election Day in 2020.
- Mueller report: Barr won’t commit to sharing full findings, Democrat says (The Guardian) The battle over releasing the special counsel Robert Mueller’s report intensified on Wednesday as Democrats in Congress insisted the attorney general, William Barr, must quickly release its full findings. The House judiciary committee chairman, Jerry Nadler, said Barr “wouldn’t commit” to releasing the report to Congress without redactions. Barr has said he will release at least a partial version in April. But it is clear he will miss the Tuesday deadline set by six House committee chairmen to see the full confidential report and its underlying documents. They have suggested they may eventually need to subpoena it.
- Rand Paul blocks resolution calling for Mueller report release (The Hill) Sen. Rand paul (R, KY) blocked a resolution calling for special counsel Robert Mueller’s report to be made public, arguing that Congress should also call for the release of communications and testimony from Obama-era officials.
But Paul objected because Klobuchar wouldn’t agree to amend the nonbinding resolution to include provisions calling for the public release of communications between several Obama-era officials including former President Obama, former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan.
- Adam Schiff urged to step down as chairman by House Intelligence Committee Republicans (Fox News) Every Republican on the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday demanded Rep. Adam Schiff step down as chairman over the California Democrat’s repeated claims to have evidence of Trump-Russia collusion.
In a letter, obtained by Fox News and signed by every Republican on the committee, the lawmakers slammed Schiff for his claims in the media that there was “more than circumstantial evidence” of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. They repeated their demand in person during a feisty hearing Thursday morning.
- Betsy DeVos’ utterly botched call for Special Olympics funding cuts, explained (CNN) See also next article. Again this year Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has submitted a budget proposal to eliminate federal government support of Special Olympics.
At issue — this time — for the bad-headline-magnet secretary of education are proposed cuts in her department’s budget that would impact the Special Olympics — in particular programs run at schools. These cuts are not new. In fact, DeVos has proposed cuts to the Special Olympics in her budgets for each year she’s been in office. And these cuts are part of a broader 12% decrease in the proposed education budget — a piece of the Trump administration’s efforts to cut the federal budget on non-defense spending. In each of the previous years, DeVos’ proposed cuts were rejected. And that was when Republicans controlled the House and Senate!
- Trump: ‘The Special Olympics will be funded’ (The Hill) President Trump said Thursday that he’s overruled his administration officials who sought to zero out funding for the Special Olympics in their budget proposal. Trump told reporters as he departed the White House for a campaign rally in Michigan:
“I heard about it this morning. I have overridden my people. We’re funding the Special Olympics.”
UK
- Brexit: Theresa May tries to buy time for deal as MPs call on her to leave (The Guardian) Theresa May will put only half of her Brexit deal to a vote on Friday, in a final desperate attempt to secure MPs’ support as senior cabinet ministers made clear she must leave No 10 very soon, whatever happens.
On the day Britain was originally meant to leave the EU – something May had promised would happen more than 100 times – the prime minister will put only the withdrawal agreement to a vote, having promised to step aside if the MPs give her their approval.
Turkey
- Despite talk of returns, Turkey quietly works to integrate Syrian refugees (Reuters) Despite political rhetoric to the contrary, and with the support of international donors, Turkey is quietly paving the way to integrate many of its nearly 4 million Syrians – by far the biggest group of refugees who have spilled over Syria’s borders during the eight-year-old civil war.
- Turkey Sees Lira Drop and Bond Yields Surge (Twitter) See also Turkey’s lira is swooning again – just in time for nationwide elections (CNBC).
Iran
- Southeast Asia should be aware of Iran’s tactics to evade oil sanctions: U.S. (Reuters) The United States is keen to see that Malaysia, Singapore and others are fully aware of illicit Iranian oil shipments and the tactics Iran uses to evade sanctions, a top U.S. sanctions official said on Friday.
Russia
- Russia confirms its military personnel are in Venezuela (CNN) Russia acknowledged Thursday that it has military personnel in Venezuela, which is facing political turmoil and a humanitarian crisis, saying the deployment is legal and does not alter the delicate balance of power in the region.
In a briefing Thursday in Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said “Russian specialists” were on Venezuelan soil but declared their deployment to be “in accordance with the provisions of the bilateral intergovernmental agreement on military-technical cooperation” between Moscow and Caracas.
South Korea
- South Korea’s Moon to meet Trump over stalled North Korea talks (Reuters) Senior South Korean officials, including President Moon Jae-in, are launching a series of meetings with U.S. counterparts, in a bid to jumpstart stalled denuclearization talks with North Korea and mend fraying ties in their alliance.
China
- State Dept. believes US legal residents are being held in Chinese detention camps (CNN) State Department sources say they know American residents — either US citizens or people with legal status in the United States — are being held in detention camps in Xinjiang, China. When asked if there were many, one of the sources said, “No, a few.” They were unable to disclose more details due to privacy concerns, for the time being.
New Zealand
- Silent crowd listens to mosque victims’ names at New Zealand memorial (Reuters) Thousands stood in silence in a Christchurch park on Friday as the names of 50 people shot dead in two mosques were read out at a national memorial service, with speakers calling for the legacy of the tragedy to be a kinder, more tolerant New Zealand.
- Moderate media, a compassionate leader: how New Zealand reacted to a tragedy (The Guardian) To the rest of the world, New Zealand’s reaction to the Christchurch massacre has been extraordinary. The killing of 50 people at Friday prayers in two mosques by a white, right-wing Australian has united, rather than divided, this small country and galvanised a parliament that has been prevaricating on gun reform for 30 years into action. Much of that response has been down to the leadership of Jacinda Ardern. But even there, the public reception has been remarkable.
Decisions that in another political context could have seemed controversial, like wearing a hijab to meet with members of the Christchurch Muslim community who were directly affected by the shooting, and introducing strong gun reform within six days, have been welcomed as respectful and appropriate.
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