Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 09 December 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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Key Articles
Global
- Asia stocks inch higher as China’s exports decline in November (CNBC) Asia stocks edged higher on Monday as China’s exports declined in November for the fourth consecutive month, according to the country’s customs data. Mainland Chinese stocks closed little changed. The U.S. dollar index was lower at 97.644 after falling from levels above 98.1 last week. Oil prices dipped in the afternoon of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures shedding 0.23% to $64.24 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also fell 0.42% to $58.95 per barrel. Spot gold was flat at $1,460 per ounce by 0500 GMT. U.S. gold futures were flat at $1,464.50. Treasury yields 2 years and longer were lower.
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U.S.
- The Abolitionists (The Intercept) A push to repeal the death penalty is gaining ground across the western United States. The arguments against capital punishemnt include the fact that it unfairly applied, with sentences consistently biased against the poor and marginalized, with a disproportionate impact on people of color. Perhaps the most persuasive arguemnt is the one that the death penalty has so often been applied for those wrongly convicted. Since the summer of 1976, just 20% of the death-row population has been executed, while 43% are no longer on death row. The majority of these people have been resentenced to lesser prison terms. Hundreds have been released from prison altogether.
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- With White House Absent, Impeachment Devolves Into Partisan Brawl (The New York Times) Almost from the moment that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her lieutenants decided this fall to pursue the impeachment of President Trump, they made a fateful judgment: If the president intended to do nothing but stonewall and subvert their inquiry, they were not going to be the ones politely sticking to lofty traditions. Mr. Trump’s lawyers have made a similarly cold calculation. After a year of defying without consequence Congress’s attempts to investigate the president’s conduct, they have no intention of taking part in what they view as an illegitimate impeachment, initially conducted without a formal House vote in a break with recent precedent.
The clash comes to a head on Monday with a hearing in the Judiciary Committee where Democratic lawyers plan to present the case for impeaching Mr. Trump while the White House sits out the process. That will set in motion a rapid-fire set of actions likely to produce official charges against the president by week’s end and a nearly party-line vote in the full House before Christmas to impeach him.
- Trump heads to court in fight over emoluments (The Hill) The Trump administration is heading to court this week in two lawsuits charging that the president is violating the Constitution by profiting off of his hotels and other businesses while in office. The cases revolve around the Constitution’s once-obscure emoluments clauses, which critics say President Trump has flouted, giving foreign diplomats an opening to curry favor with him by patronizing his businesses.
On Monday, a panel of judges on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments over whether members of Congress can sue the president for alleged emoluments violations, and on Thursday, the full 4th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments over whether state attorneys general can bring their own case.
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Other important articles
Global
- NATO Conference Is Canceled After U.S. Ambassador Barred a Trump Critic (The New York Times)
U.S.
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- Inside Giuliani’s dual roles: Power-broker-for-hire and shadow foreign policy adviser (The Washington Post)
- Report: William Barr Has Warned Trump That Giuliani Is a Liability (The Daily Beast)
- Nunes blasts Schiff for ‘blatant disregard’ of impeachment rules; blames ‘vendetta’ against Trump (Fox News)
- Trump impeachment inquiry: The case for and against (BBC News)
- The role Mueller report could play in case for impeachment (CNN)
- DOJ watchdog Horowitz’s report to be released, as Dems prep impeachment hearing (Fox News)
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UK
- UK Brexit envoy in DC quits, slams government for ‘half truths’ days before election (Fox News)
- Northern Ireland customs protocol could thwart Brexit plans (The Guardian)
Ukraine
- Ukrainians fear president will accept peace on Putin’s terms, as questions swirl over US support (CNN)
Russia
- Russia doping scandal: Athletes face potential ban from global sport (BBC News) Russia could face an unprecedented four-year ban from major international sporting events over accusations that it manipulated laboratory doping data.
North Korea
- North Korea conducted ‘very important test’ at satellite launch facility: state media (Fox News) The U.S. had previously said North Korea had pertially dismantled and agreed to close the facility.
- Former defense secretaries shed light on why Trump talks with North Korea failed (CNBC)
China
- China tells government offices to remove all foreign computer equipment (The Guardian)
- Massive rally in Hong Kong marks six months of protests (Fox News)
- China exports fall again as US trade war continues (BBC News) China’s exports fell in November as shipments to the US slowed sharply, adding to concerns about the effects of the two nations’ trade war.
New Zealand
Brazil
- Amazon indigenous leaders killed in Brazil drive-by shooting (The Guardian)
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