The Times (January 21)
“While China and Japan are facing increasingly acute problems of ageing societies, it is actually Europe that is grappling with a looming ‘demographic bomb.’”
Tags: Acute problems, Ageing societies, China, Demographic bomb, Europe, Japan, Looming
NBC News (January 20)
“On Tuesday, the impeachment trial of President Donald John Trump will begin in the United States Senate. It ought to be a moment of pride in our constitutional order, a testament to the framers’ vision that no one, not even a president, is above the law.” But instead of “patriotic duty,” this trial is being driven by fear. Ultimately, in years to come, “many Republican senators will wish they’d been driven not by fear of a bully, but by the courage of their convictions, and pride in carrying out their solemn duties.”
Tags: Bully, Constitutional order, Convictions, Courage, Fear, Impeachment, Patriotic duty, Pride, Senate, Trial, Trump, U.S.
Japan Today (January 20)
“Japan is in the crosshairs as it seeks both to be recognized as a leader in the climate-change debate but also supports the use of what is widely regarded as a dirty fuel.” Japanese corporations, however, are ready to break with coal. They “overwhelmingly feel Japan should shift away from its dependence on coal for power generation… a Reuters poll found, further evidence that the government is out of step with the global fight against climate change.”
Tags: Climate change, Coal, Crosshairs, Dirty, Japan, Leader
The Economist (January 18)
“America is weaponising its currency and financial system” like never before, but the “use of sanctions could endanger the dollar in the long term!” Other countries, both allies and enemies, increasingly view the Trump administration’s aggressive use of the dollar-based financial system “as an abuse of power.” Ultimately, this “may eventually lead to the demise of America’s financial hegemony, as other countries seek to dethrone its mighty currency.”
Tags: Abuse, Allies, Currency, Dollar, Enemies, Financial system, Hegemony, Sanctions, Trump, U.S., Weaponising
Financial Times (January 17)
Next week at Davos, “representatives of the Big Four accounting firms… are scheduled to meet Bank of America chief executive Brian Moynihan and other corporate leaders to thrash out green audit standards. Their decisions could be a crucial for the next wave of green reform as any eye-catching speech by Ms. Thunberg, since they will help direct capital flows.”
Tags: Big Four, BoA, Capital flows, Davos, Green audit standards, Leaders, Moynihan, Thunberg
Wall Street Journal (January 17)
“The 2020 Games, which officially open July 24, already may be the toughest Olympics ticket in decades, and possibly ever, ticket sellers say.” Any “Americans who want to watch them in person at the Olympics might already be out of luck.”
Tags: 2020 Games, Japan, Olympics, Out of luck, Tickets
BBC (January 15)
“According to Nasa, Noaa and the UK Met Office, last year was the second warmest in a record dating back to 1850.” Moreover, “the past five years were the hottest in the 170-year series” and “the Met Office says that 2020 is likely to continue this warming trend.”
Wall Street Journal (January 15)
Encryption and security protections “have significant social and public benefits.” These are becoming “more important as individuals store and transmit more personal information on their phones—including bank accounts and health records—amid increasing cyber-espionage.” The U.S. Attorney General wants Apple to provide law enforcement with a backdoor. It won’t and it shouldn’t. “Any special key that Apple created for the U.S. government to unlock iPhones would also be exploitable by bad actors.”
Tags: Apple, Backdoor, Bad actors, Bank accounts, Benefits, Cyber-espionage, Encryption, Exploitable, Health records, Law enforcement, Personal information, Phones, Security, U.S., Unlock
LA Times (January 14)
“Convicting Trump will take a two-thirds vote of the Senate, which means that even if all Democrats and independents vote to remove the president, he’ll remain in office unless at least 20 Republicans turn against him. Those are long odds, and if McConnell has his way on witnesses, they’ll stay long.”
Tags: Convicting, Democrats, Independents, McConnell, Remove, Republicans, Senate, Trump, Vote, Witnesses
Forbes (January 13)
“Recession fears are back in full force: 97% of CFOs said that an economic downturn has already begun or will begin in 2020—up from 88% who said the same thing last year, according to Deloitte’s latest CFO Signals Survey.”
