Early Headlines: Asia Stocks Mostly Up, Dollar Flat, Oil Mixed, Gold Down, Yields Mixed, Trump Trial Team, War Powers, Iran Fatal Error, Tsai Landslide, Iraq Purse Strings, Oz Burns, Plus More - 24 Articles, 12 Graphics

Early Bird Headlines 13 January 2020.

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.

Key Articles

Global

Mainland stocks jump as investors await US-China phase one deal signing (CNBC) Stocks in Asia mostly rose by the close on Monday as investors await the signing of a phase-one trade deal between the U.S. and China. Mainland China markets jumped by the close. The U.S. dollar index was little changed on Monday, as it continued to hover above the 97 level. It was last at 97.371. U.S. crude futures inched up 0.12% to $59.12 per barrel, and Brent crude traded flat to $65.00 per barrel. Spot gold dipped 0.6% to $1,552.42 per ounce by 0756 GMT. Bond yields were mixed, with U.S. treasuries and UK gilts seeing higher yields, while German bunds traded for lower yields.

U.S.

Trump’s Impeachment Team Takes Shape as Trial Looms (The New York Times) Some aspects of how Mr. Trump’s team will approach the trial have yet to be determined, including whether it will seek witnesses and how much time it will ask for to argue its case. But the basic configuration of the team defending the television-savvy president in a made-for-TV congressional event has been established. The two constants will be Pat A. Cipollone (center, first picture below), the White House counsel, and Jay Sekulow (second picture below), who has been Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer since 2017. Both are expected to have speaking roles during the trial.

This will be the first outing by Mr. Trump’s team during the impeachment process after the White House chose not to mount a traditional defense during the House proceedings.
For Mr. Cipollone, the trial will be a high-profile appearance for the typically low-profile lawyer, who has stayed well below the radar during more than a year in the job. Mr. Sekulow, who hosts a daily radio show and is a frequent television commentator, is more accustomed to being in the public eye.

Democrats scramble to rein in Trump’s Iran war powers (The Hill) A resolution from Sen. Tim Kaine (D, VA) can come to the Senate floor as soon as Tuesday morning, and he has been trying to win over the four GOP votes needed, in addition to every Democratic senator, to get to 51 votes. The House has passed such a resolution.
Senior administration officials struggle to explain intelligence behind killing of Soleimani (The Washington Post) Senior administration officials declined Sunday to confirm President Trump’s assertion that four U.S. embassies had been targeted for attack by Iran, while saying that Trump’s “interpretation” of the threat was consistent with overall intelligence that justified the killing of a senior Iranian general.

The administration has offered few details and differing justifications for the Jan. 3 drone strike that killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, ranging from retaliation for two decades of attacks on American troops and allies by the Quds Force he led, the possibility of future actions, to Trump’s claim that intelligence had confirmed imminent plans to bomb four American embassies.

Iran

Furor in Iran and Abroad After Tehran Admits Downing Ukrainian Jetliner (The New York Times) Iran’s stunning admission that its forces errantly downed a Ukrainian jetliner – reversing three days of denial – did little to quell growing fury inside the country and beyond on Saturday as the deadly tragedy turned into a volatile political crisis for Tehran’s leaders and overshadowed their struggle with the United States.

Ukrainian officials in the capital Kyiv criticized Iran’s conduct, suggesting that the Iranians would not have admitted responsibility if investigators from Ukraine had not found evidence of a missile strike in the wreckage of the crash, which killed all 176 people aboard.
Protests erupted in Tehran and other Iranian cities as dumbfounded citizens found a new reason to mistrust Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader and other officials. Protest videos even showed some shouting “Khamenei is a murderer!” and anti-riot police tear-gassing violent demonstrators.

China

Tsai landslide risks China cranking up pressure on Taiwan (Nikkei Asian Review) Tsai Ing-wen’s sweeping victory in Taiwan’s presidential election vindicated her strong stance against China, but also risks provoking Beijing into stepping up its campaign of pressure against an island it views as a wayward province.

Tsai, who portrays herself as the best defender of democracy in Taiwan, received the highest number of votes for any candidate since the island’s first direct presidential election in 1996. In her campaign, she played up Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong protesters and the perceived threat to Taiwan’s hard-fought democracy.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. “The two sides have almost no political trust,” according to Pan Chao-min, a professor at Tunghai University’s Graduate Institute of Political Science in Taiwan. (Reuters/Akira Kodaka)