Friday, September 7, 2018

Trump Ran for President Because He Was Jealous of Gwen Stefani, Michael Moore Says - New York Magazine

Sept. 7, 2018.

Trump Ran for President Because He Was Jealous of Gwen Stefani, Michael Moore Says
By Madeleine Aggeler@mmaggeler

There are many theories as to why Donald Trump ran for president. Some say it was because Seth Meyers and President Obama made fun of him at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, others say it was to further his business, and this week, Michael Moore told The Hollywood Reporter that Trump ran for president because of former No Doubt front woman and The Voice judge Gwen Stefani.

According to THR, Moore suggested that Trump was inspired to announce his run for president after learning that Stefani was earning higher performance fees from NBC as a judge on The Voice than he was as host of The Apprentice, because he thought staging his elevator-heavy campaign announcement at Trump Tower in June 2015 would show the network just how popular he was. Moore, who is currently promoting his upcoming documentary Fahrenheit 11/9, was reportedly “delighted with the audacity of the claim” after making it.

“He’d been talking about running for president since 1988, but he didn’t really want to be president,” Moore said. “There’s no penthouse in the White House. And he doesn’t want to live in a black city. He was trying to pit NBC against another network, but it just went off the rails.”

It is, indeed, a theory. And it’s not hard to imagine that Trump, upon learning the distressing news that a woman was being fairly compensated for her work, would be prompted to do something drastic. Then again, maybe he just ran so he could spend more time fondling flags.

Sources THR

Confidential emails from Judge Kavanaugh’s years as a lawyer in the George W. Bush administration were released on Thursday, prompting a new round of objections to his confirmation from Senate Democrats - New York Times


Confidential emails from Judge Kavanaugh’s years as a lawyer in the George W. Bush administration were released on Thursday, prompting a new round of objections to his confirmation from Senate Democrats.

Sept. 7, 2018


All week, Senate Democrats have furiously protested the decision by Republicans to protect thousands of documents related to Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court. On the third day of his confirmation hearings, that fury came to a head.

On today’s episode:

Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The New York Times.

Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh on Thursday was pressed to explain his position on the landmark abortion decision Roe v. Wade. He wrote in a leaked email from 2003, “I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law of the land.”CreditErin Schaff for The New York Times
Background coverage:

Confidential emails from Judge Kavanaugh’s years as a lawyer in the George W. Bush administration were released on Thursday, prompting a new round of objections to his confirmation from Senate Democrats.

Over two days of questioning, Judge Kavanaugh was asked about his stance on major issues including abortion, presidential power, voting rights, gun rights, same-sex marriage and government regulation. Here are rundowns of Day 2 and Day 3 of the hearings.

Three prominent Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee — Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kamala Harris of California and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota — are said to be contemplating running for president in 2020 and to have used the live televised event as a proving ground.



Why Emerging Markets Are in Crisis Across the Globe - TIME Business

Why Emerging Markets Are in Crisis Across the Globe

A crisis is looming in developing economies, or what investors know as emerging markets. An economic crisis in Turkey has pushed inflation to new heights and the value of the lira to new lows. Argentina’s peso is in trouble as President Mauricio Macri reaches to the International Monetary Fund for emergency help. South Africa’s rand, Mexico’s peso and Indonesia’s rupiah are all under pressure. India and Brazil are looking volatile too.

The risk of contagion to other emerging markets is real. In part, that’s thanks to investment vehicles that allow investors to buy debt and equities of multiple countries in a single bundle. In some cases, investors–spooked by weakness in one market–sell shares in all of them to reduce risk.
It might be tempting to blame President Donald Trump for this turmoil. He’s declared trade wars on countries large and small. Looming tariffs on another $200 billion in U.S. and Chinese goods mark the latest use of heavy weapons in an escalating fight between the world’s two largest economies. He’s also battling with Europe, Canada and even Japan, while also throwing punches at vulnerable Turkey as part of a bitter political battle with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. These confrontations doubtless create uncertainty.

Yet the current crisis follows decisions taken by U.S. central bankers, not the U.S. President. Emerging markets suffer when rising U.S. interest rates boost the dollar at the expense of their currencies. The Federal Reserve will continue to raise rates in coming months, because its governors believe this policy best serves the longer-term needs of the U.S. economy.

In addition, the longer-term weaknesses that make so many emerging markets vulnerable to higher U.S. rates existed long before Trump became President. Many governments of these developing countries haven’t done enough in recent years to boost productivity. Some spend ever larger sums on various entitlements while adjusting too slowly to changes in commodity prices or the availability of cheap credit.

Crucially, there’s also the problem of populism. Leaders in Turkey, Argentina, Venezuela, Hungary, Poland and South Africa have each pushed economic policies in recent years that delivered short-term political benefits while creating long-term economic weaknesses. Many constrain their institutions, including central banks, from making the necessary adjustments the Fed is now making in the U.S.

Take Turkey. Erdogan’s various fights with Trump have led to tariffs and sanctions, but his government has badly mismanaged Turkey’s economy. As Erdogan has pressed Turkey’s central bank to keep interest rates low, he has made the lira artificially cheap while making dollars and euros more expensive. That, in turn, makes it harder for Turkish companies to pay down large debts denominated in foreign currencies and to borrow more money from overseas. Investors see Erdogan prioritizing political gains over stability.

Argentina offers another example. Here there’s no political battle with Trump to worry investors. But Macri has not yet restored investor confidence in his country’s long-term financial health. Macri has imposed enough austerity to inflict pain on Argentine voters, but some fear it isn’t enough to guarantee that his government can make its debt payments.

Vulnerable emerging markets are like houses built atop faulty foundations. It’s the threat of earthquakes that creates fear. But until repairs are made, those who built these homes must shoulder blame when frightening cracks appear.

This appears in the September 17, 2018 issue of TIME.

Elizabeth Warren Calls for the Cabinet to 'Invoke the 25th' and Remove President Trump - TIME

Elizabeth Warren Calls for the Cabinet to 'Invoke the 25th' and Remove President Trump

By GINA MARTINEZ 8:39 PM EDT
In the wake of an explosive New York Times anonymous op-ed, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is calling on President Donald Trump’s Cabinet to invoke the Constitution’s 25th Amendment and remove him from office.

On Wednesday the Times published an op-ed titled “I am part of the resistance inside the Trump administration.” The piece, written by an unnamed senior official at the White House, claimed the President was “amoral,” “anti-democratic” and that much of senior officials’ job is to work against the President’s agenda. One of the most shocking claims in the piece was that, at one point, members of his cabinet reportedly considered invoking the 25th Amendment but decided against it to avoid a “constitutional crisis.”

The 25th Amendment, ratified in 1967, is meant to be a failsafe to handle when a President is unable to fulfill the duties of the office for reasons besides injury or death. According to the Constitution, under the Amendment, if the Vice President and a majority of “principle officers” agree that the President is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.”

The Times op-ed has shocked many and confirmed suspicions for some that Trump is unfit to lead. Senator Warren, for one, came out on Thursday to push for the President’s cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment if they actually believe that Trump is unable to adequately fulfill the responsibilities of his office. She shared on social media and her website a call for the Cabinet to use the Amendment if it saw fit.

“Every minute they make excuses is a minute that our country is at risk.” Warren said.

Elizabeth Warren

@elizabethforma
 Let’s be clear: We already have a constitutional crisis if the cabinet believes the President of the United States can’t do his job and then refuses to follow the rules that have been laid down in the Constitution. They can’t have it both ways.

8:35 AM - Sep 7, 2018

“If senior officials believe the president is unfit, they should stop hiding behind anonymous op-eds and leaking information to Bob Woodward boasting that they’re trying to save our country, and instead do what the Constitution demands they do: invoke the 25th Amendment and remove this president from office.” Warren posted on her website.

Hong Kong now has more super-rich people than any other city - CNN Money

Hong Kong now has more super-rich people than any other city
by Daniel Shane   @CNNMoneyInvest
September 6, 2018: 10:17 AM ET

New York is no longer the city with the biggest super-rich population.
Hong Kong overtook the Big Apple to become the top destination for the planet's wealthiest people last year, according to a study published Thursday by research firm Wealth-X. The number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) residing in the Asian financial hub rose by almost a third in 2017 to 10,000, the study said.

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New York had held the top spot since Wealth-X first started ranking cities in 2011. The firm defines a UHNWI as a person worth $30 million or more.

It said the rise in the number of ultra rich in Hong Kong was propelled by its booming stock market and growing financial links with the broader Chinese economy.

China's rapid economic growth in recent decades has helped drive a dramatic increase in the number of ultra-rich people in the region.

A view of Hong Kong skyline from Victoria Peak.
Among Hong Kong's most prominent billionaires are Li Ka-shing, whose Cheung Kong (CKHUY) empire controls ports, telecommunications networks and energy companies across the globe.

No single city in mainland China made it into Wealth-X's top 10 in terms of its number of super-rich individuals.

It said that was because Chinese wealth was not concentrated in any one area, but distributed around the country. Its wealthiest citizens include tech tycoons Jack Ma and Pony Ma who founded internet juggernauts Alibaba (BABA) and Tencent (TCEHY), respectively.

"The dynamism of wealth creation across China's vast landscape is nevertheless staggering," the report read.

Overall, the United States remains the preferred country for the world's richest and is home to almost a third of the world's ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

But Asia, and China in particular, are catching up. Last year the number of ultra-rich people in Asia rose by 20%. Rising Asian wealth has been helped by increasing consumer spending, more investment in infrastructure and economic reforms, among other factors, Wealth-X said.

"Asia-Pacific is forecast to close the ultra-wealth gap with other regions over the next five years," the report added.

For the past four years, the region's tally of people with $1 million in investable assets has been higher than anywhere else in the world, according to another study by consulting firm Capgemini. And by one estimate, China alone already has more billionaires than the United States.

hong kong ultra rich chart
But things could get tougher in 2018. China faces headwinds from its trade war with the United States and the huge levels of debt in its financial system. Chinese stocks entered a bear market this year, while its currency has plunged versus the dollar.

Globally, the number of ultra-rich individuals rose by 13% last year to more than 250,000. Their combined total wealth hit $31.5 trillion, boosted by an upturn in the global economy and good performances of stock markets.

Other cities in the top 10 for global wealth included Tokyo, Los Angeles, Paris and London.

Trump: If it was up to me, I'd shut down the government over border security - Reuters

Trump: If it was up to me, I'd shut down the government over border security
Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | @BerkeleyJr

CNBC.com
President Donald Trump disparages the New York Times as he speaks following a meeting with sheriffs from across the country at the White House in Washington, September 5, 2018.
Leah Millis | Reuters
President Donald Trump disparages the New York Times as he speaks following a meeting with sheriffs from across the country at the White House in Washington, September 5, 2018.
President Donald Trump said he won't consider a government shutdown over funding for his proposed border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border until after the November midterm elections.

In an interview with "Fox & Friends" that aired Friday, Trump said he doesn't want to hurt the Republican party's chances during midterms. If it was up to him, Trump said, he would "shut down the government over border security."

"We need Republicans elected in the midterms," Trump said. "We are getting the wall done. But I've had so many people, good people, great people, they would rather not do [it] before [the midterms], they'd rather do it right after the election."

Fears grow for Japan quake survivors as death toll rises - BBC News

Sept. 7, 2018.

Fears grow for Japan quake survivors as death toll rises

Emergency crews are racing against the clock to find survivors
Rescuers continued to search for survivors of a powerful earthquake on Japan's island of Hokkaido, as the death toll rose to 16.

Dozens are still missing with many feared buried under rubble after the magnitude 6.7 quake triggered landslides.

Some 1.6 million residents across Hokkaido remain without power.

The quake is the second disaster to hit Japan this week, after a deadly typhoon lashed the country's west coast.

The earthquake struck early on Thursday and thousands of people spent the night in evacuation centres.

'I thought I would die'
The village of Atsuma was among the hardest hit, where roads and houses collapsed after huge landslides.

"We've heard there are people still stuck under the mud, so we've been working around the clock but it's been difficult to rescue them," a rescue worker in Atsuma told public broadcaster NHK.

One resident said: "It was horrendous. The land slid all the way down and I thought I would die. I thought my house would collapse."

Many residents are still missing
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirmed 16 people had been killed, many people injured, and 26 remained missing.

"Please give your sympathy to people who spent a dark night in fear, and do everything you can to restore electricity as soon as possible," he instructed his ministers at an emergency cabinet meeting on Friday.

Authorities said it could take at least one week to restore power lines to the sparsely populated countryside.

With bad weather expected over the next days, officials are warning people to remain cautious and be prepared for aftershocks.

Transport to resume
The island's main airport resumed flights on Friday and train services are also scheduled to restart before the weekend.

The quake also affected several manufacturers on the island. Operations at Toyota plant will be suspended until power is restored, the carmaker said.

A football friendly between Japan and Chile scheduled for Friday has been called off.

The earthquake caused landslides which engulfed houses

Japan is prone to earthquakes
The earthquake comes on the heels of a deadly typhoon lashing the west of Japan over the past few days.

Jebi, the strongest typhoon to hit the country in 25 years, killed at least 10 people and caused widespread damage and disruption.

Japan is one of the world's most seismically active nations and accounts for around 20% of quakes worldwide of magnitude 6.0 or more.

In June, a deadly tremor hit Osaka region, killing five and injuring more than 300 people.

Boris Johnson and wife Marina Wheeler to get divorced - BBC News

Sept. 7, 2018.

Boris Johnson and wife Marina Wheeler to get divorced

The couple have been married for 25 years and have four children together
Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson and his wife Marina Wheeler have confirmed they have separated.

In a joint statement, they said they are now in the process of divorcing, after the Sun newspaper broke the news of their split.

The couple have been married for 25 years and said the decision was taken some months ago.

Mr Johnson, long touted as a future Tory leader, quit the cabinet in July attacking Theresa May's Brexit plan.

Boris Johnson quits amid Brexit crisis
In a joint statement, he and Ms Wheeler said: "Several months ago, after 25 years of marriage, we decided it was in our best interests to separate.

"We have subsequently agreed to divorce and that process is under way.

"As friends we will continue to support our four children in the years ahead.

"We will not be commenting further".

Mr Johnson and Ms Wheeler, a barrister, married in 1993 and have four children together, Lara Lettice, Milo Arthur, Cassia Peaches and Theodore Apollo. He was previously married to Allegra Mostyn-Owen, who had been a fellow student at Oxford.

News of the split follows newspaper allegations about Mr Johnson having had another extra-marital affair.

In 2004, the MP was sacked from a shadow ministerial role by then Conservative leader Michael Howard for allegedly lying over an affair with journalist Petronella Wyatt - something he had denied as an "inverted pyramid of piffle".

He fronted the Vote Leave campaign during the 2016 EU referendum and joined Theresa May's first cabinet as foreign secretary but quit in July, shortly after his fellow cabinet Brexiteer David Davis resigned, over the prime minister's Chequers plan for the UK's future relationship with the EU.

In 2016, following David Cameron's resignation, Mr Johnson dramatically ruled himself out of the race to be the next Conservative leader and prime minister, after his fellow Brexit campaigner Michael Gove's surprise announcement that he would run.

But the former mayor of London and current MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip is widely thought to continue to harbour leadership ambitions.

Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's presidential front-runner, stabbed at rally - BBC News

Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's presidential front-runner, stabbed at rally
7 September 2018

Presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, pictured seconds after being stabbed in the stomach
The front-runner in Brazil's presidential election, Jair Bolsonaro, has been stabbed at a campaign rally.

The far-right politician was attacked amid a crowd in the south-east state of Minas Gerais. A suspect was arrested.

Mr Bolsonaro had surgery for injuries to his intestines and is expected to recover, hospital officials said.

The controversial politician, who has outraged many in Brazil with racist and homophobic comments, has performed strongly in recent opinion polls.

The polls suggest he will get the most votes in the first round of the October presidential elections if former President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva remains blocked from standing, but he is unlikely to win a run-off.

Left-wing Lula had been the long-standing favourite but he is currently in prison, appealing against a ban on his candidacy that was imposed after his conviction for corruption.

'Brazil's Trump' enters presidential race
Some of Mr Bolsonaro's past comments have caused uproar, including equating homosexuality with paedophilia, and saying a congresswoman was too ugly to be raped.

Campaigning from hospital and prison
Katy Watson, BBC South America correspondent, São Paulo

This is another twist - a dramatic one - in what has already been a turbulent campaign for one of Brazil's most uncertain elections in decades.

Jair Bolsonaro is the front-runner and he is in a hospital bed, while the only person thought to be able to beat him is Lula - and he is in a prison cell. It is a surreal situation.

One of Jair Bolsonaro's key campaign messages is that he will try to turn around the growth in violent crime. The fact that he is now a victim himself plays into the hands of his supporters, who see this as a very important problem for Brazil to tackle. Everyone - including his detractors - has rallied around him to condemn the attack.

As it has happened so close to the October election, he won't be on the campaign trail for the next week or so. Nevertheless, his supporters will be strengthened, seeing that his concerns are their concerns.

How did the attack unfold?
Footage of the incident in the city of Juiz de Fora shows Mr Bolsonaro making a thumbs-up gesture and being held aloft by supporters when he is stabbed with what appears to be a knife.

He then doubles over with pain and his supporters quickly lower him to the ground and bundle him into a car.

After the attack, his son Flavio tweeted: "Unfortunately it was more serious than we had expected. He lost a lot of blood, arrived at the hospital with a [blood] pressure of 10/3, almost dead. His condition now seems stabilised. Pray, please!"

Hospital officials later said Mr Bolsonaro had suffered a "deep" and life-threatening stab wound in his intestines and was in a "serious but stable" condition.

Image caption
Military police released a picture of the man suspected of stabbing Mr Bolsonaro
He was recuperating well in intensive care after two hours of surgery, they added, but would spend at least a week to 10 days in hospital.

He has since been filmed in his hospital bed, making a hoarse statement. He described how what he thought was "just a blow" turned into an unbearable pain. He had "never hurt anyone", he said.

Police said a suspect has been arrested and named him as Adelio Obispo de Oliveira, 40. Officials quoted by Reuters news agency said he appeared to be mentally disturbed.

He was manhandled and beaten by angry supporters of Mr Bolsonaro before being taken into custody.

Stabbing suspect Adelio Obispo de Oliveira was grabbed by members of the crowd
Image caption
It took the crowd some moments to realise Jair Bolsonaro, top right, had been stabbed
What has been the reaction?
Mr Bolsonaro's electoral rivals have all condemned the stabbing. Fernando Haddad, who is expected to replace Lula on the Workers' Party ticket, said the attack was "absurd and regrettable".

Speaking in the capital Brasilia, President Michel Temer said such an attack was "intolerable" in a democratic state and that he hoped Mr Bolsonaro recovered soon.

The president's predecessor, Dilma Rousseff, warned that the attack must not go unpunished.

Brazilian stocks rose after the attack on Mr Bolsonaro, as it was seen as increasing his chances. His free-market economics make him popular with investors.

Image caption
Supporters of Mr Bolsonaro in Sao Paulo held a vigil for him
Why is Mr Bolsonaro so polarising?
The 63-year-old, who is representing the Social Liberal Party (PSL), is followed by millions of Brazilians on social media, and many refer to him as the "Brazilian Trump".

Brazil's unlikely young conservatives

He also supports loosening gun control laws, and is backed by millions of evangelical Christians for his uncompromising anti-abortion stance.

A former army captain, Mr Bolsonaro entered politics in the 1980s to defend the rights of military personnel.

Few imagined at that time that he could become a serious contender. But the collapse of the Workers' Party government and the impeachment of President Rousseff two years ago revealed the extent of political divisions.

Image caption
Mr Bolsonaro has performed strongly in polls ahead of next month's election
Mr Bolsonaro's outspoken rhetoric and his defence of law and order appealed to many who blamed the left for corruption and the economic crisis.

In 2011, he told Playboy magazine that he would be "incapable of loving a gay son" and that he would rather see such a son of his "die in an accident".

In 2015, he was fined for saying in a newspaper interview that Congresswoman Maria do Rosario was "not worth raping; she is very ugly".

He is currently being investigated for alleged racism over derogatory remarks he made about Afro-Brazilians.

Who will be Brazil's next president?
President Temer, an unpopular leader, is not standing for re-election, and millions of voters remain undecided.

Mr Bolsonaro is expected to have a strong first round but lose a run-off to leftist Ciro Gomes, environmentalist Marina Silva or ex-Governor of Sao Paulo Geraldo Alckmin, according to leading research company Ibope.

A race against Lula's likely replacement, Fernando Haddad, could be much narrower. Ibope said its most recent survey showed Mr Bolsonaro losing to him by just one percentage point.

Mr Haddad was charged with corruption earlier this week and, like Lula, denies any wrongdoing.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected Lula's latest appeal to run. The Workers' Party has until the end of Tuesday to register Mr Haddad as its presidential candidate.