Top Stories Today – June 12, 2019
Top Stories Today – June 12, 2019
Trump reveals migrant plan by waving document around
US President Donald Trump has inadvertently revealed some details of his immigration deal with Mexico. He refused to discuss the plans with reporters, saying they were “secret”. But he said this while waving around a sheet of paper that had the specifics of the deal written on it – which was then photographed by news media.
President Trump made tightening the border with Mexico a major campaign pledge and the agreement averted his threat to impose tariffs on Mexico. The document suggested that Mexico had agreed to a deadline by which it had to show its efforts at halting the movement of migrants had worked. If the US determined that the measures had “not sufficiently achieved results in addressing the flow of migrants”, Mexico would then take stronger legal action. BBC
Vietnam hits China with tariff
Vietnam has imposed anti-dumping tariffs on certain goods from China that were getting around tariffs levied by the United States in its trade dispute with Beijing. The Southeast Asian country’s Ministry of Industry and Trade decided after a 5-month review to levy a temporary anti-dumping tax of 2.46% to 35.58% on several Chinese-origin aluminum products, effective June 5.
Vietnam had emerged as one of the top beneficiaries last year of the Sino-US trade dispute because tariff-weary shippers based in China were tapping the country as an alternative, low-tariff place to manufacture exports headed to the United States. But some manufacturers were just relabeling products made in China as “Made-in-Vietnam” for trans-shipment to the United States. The Voice of America
Hong Kong protest turns to chaos
Hong Kong police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at demonstrators who threw plastic bottles on Wednesday as protests against an extradition bill that would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial descended into violent chaos.
Tens of thousands of protesters had gathered peacefully outside the Chinese-ruled city’s legislature before tempers flared, some charging police with umbrellas. Police warned them back, saying: “We will use force.” Ambulances sped toward the protest area as panic spread through the crowd, with many people trying to flee the stinging tear gas, according to a Reuters witness. More than 10 people were wounded in the clashes, Cable TV reported. Reuters
US House votes to take Barr and McGahn to court
The House has authorized its committee leaders to pursue civil contempt cases to get information for their myriad investigations into President Trump. Although the vote, 229-191, clears the way for more lawsuits against Cabinet departments, administration officials, bankers, accountants and more, it represented a sidestep from a more aggressive partisan confrontation that might have been.
Leaders in the House had contemplated holding Attorney General William Barr and former White House counsel Don McGahn in contempt of Congress. Barr would have been only the second attorney general so censured and the rare sitting Cabinet member rebuked in that way. Instead, the resolution that passed on Tuesday simply permitted civil lawsuits against him and McGahn. NPR
New poll has every major 2020 Democrat beating Trump
If the 2020 presidential election were held today, President Trump would lose to every major Democratic candidate — and he’d be crushed by former Vice President Joe Biden, according to a national Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday. Biden’s 53-40 percent lead is underpinned by a 30-point advantage among independents, who back him 58 percent to 28 percent over Trump.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) beats Trump by 9 points, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif) by 8 points, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) by 7 points, and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Mayor Pete Buttigieg both beat Trump by 5 points, within the poll’s ±3.5 point margin of error. Trump doesn’t rise above 42 percent against any of them. The poll reached 1,214 voters nationwide June 6-10. Quinnipiac University, CNN via The Week
Russian TV series blames CIA for Chernobyl nuclear disaster
A pro-Kremlin Russian TV network is planning to air a mini-series about Chernobyl, one suggesting a CIA saboteur was behind the 1986 Soviet-era nuclear disaster in Ukraine, which left up to a million people exposed to radiation.
The Kremlin was angered by the recent, highly acclaimed HBO five-part mini-series on Chernobyl, which lauded the self-sacrificing bravery of those who battled to contain the fire and mitigate the effects of a reactor meltdown, but also detailed Soviet-era mismanagement, the delayed response and the denial for years by Soviet officials of a design fault. The officials at the time tried to place the blame for the deadly explosion solely on the mishandling of a test by a handful of incompetent plant managers. The Voice of America
US women’s soccer beats Thailand 13-0
The US women’s soccer team secured the most lopsided victory of all time in a Women’s World Cup game on Tuesday, beating Thailand 13-0 in America’s first game of the tournament. Team captain Alex Morgan scored the first goal 12 minutes into the match, then added four more later on. This matches her with Michelle Akers as the only players to score five goals in a single Women’s World Cup game.
The US came into the tournament at first place in FIFA’s rankings, putting the team atop betting odds and earning them a 24 percent chance of winning the cup from FiveThirtyEight. Tournament host France is meanwhile just behind the US on FiveThirtyEight’s rankings, with Germany, the Netherlands, and England far further behind. ESPN, FiveThirtyEight via The Week