Top Stories Today – June 4, 2019
Top Stories Today – June 4, 2019
GOP lawmakers discuss tariffs on Mexico
Congressional Republicans have begun discussing whether they may have to vote to block President Trump’s planned new tariffs on Mexico, potentially igniting a second standoff this year over Trump’s use of executive powers to circumvent Congress, people familiar with the talks said.
The vote, which would be the GOP’s most dramatic act of defiance since Trump took office, could also have the effect of blocking billions of dollars in border wall funding that the president had announced in February when he declared a national emergency at the southern border, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks are private. Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on Mexico — with which the United States has a free-trade agreement — rely on the president’s declaration of a national emergency at the border. But the law gives Congress the right to override the national emergency determination by passing a resolution of disapproval. The Washington Post
Mexico warns US tariff would hurt both nations
Mexico warned Monday that President Donald Trump’s threatened new tariff on its exports to the United States would hurt both countries’ economies and cause even more Central American migrants to travel through Mexico to reach the United States.
At the start of talks in Washington, Mexican officials said they could only go so far in meeting Trump’s demand to block migrants’ passage through Mexico to avert Trump’s imposition of a 5% tariff next week. The officials specifically ruled out a “third safe country” agreement requiring US asylum-seekers to first apply for refuge in Mexico. Mexican officials contended that an additional quarter million migrants could try to reach the US if the tariff is imposed, on top of the tens of thousands already reaching the southern US border each month. Trump showed no sign of softening his demand as he tweeted during a visit to London. The Voice of America
US House passes disaster relief package
House Democrats finally managed to pass a $19.1 billion disaster relief bill Monday, sending the measure on to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it. The 354-58 vote came after Republican conservatives blocked the bill from advancing on three separate occasions while lawmakers were away on a week-long recess — an appropriately acrimonious legislative finale after months of partisan discord.
The measure makes $331 million in community development grants available to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, as well as $600 million in nutrition assistance to Puerto Rico and $25 million to the Northern Mariana Islands. That extra aid to Puerto Rico comes at the chagrin of the president, who has repeatedly argued the US territory’s officials are “incompetent” and that the islands have received more than enough federal assistance since they were struck by a duo of catastrophic hurricanes in 2017. Politico
Trump and May talk about business
British Prime Minister Theresa May and US President Donald Trump both signaled a desire Tuesday to expand trade between their nations as they began a series of meetings in London. Speaking at a business roundtable event, Trump said he thinks the two sides will reach a “very, very substantial trade deal” that is “very fair.”
May said Britain and the United States could expand their economic partnership with a bilateral trade deal and that her government believes in “keeping markets free, fair and open.” Trump has pursued new trade arrangements with a number of major US trade partners, including China, with a stated goal of making terms friendlier to the United States. In addition to speaking with business leaders, Trump and May are holding bilateral talks and a working lunch Tuesday before appearing at a joint news conference. The Voice of America
Tech giants to face antitrust probe by US House
House lawmakers plan a sweeping review of Facebook, Google and other technology giants to determine if they’ve become so large and powerful that they stifle competition and harm consumers, marking a new, unprecedented antitrust threat for an industry that’s increasingly under siege by Congress, the White House and 2020 presidential candidates.
The probe, announced Monday by Rep. David Cicilline (R.I.), the leader of the House’s top anti-trust subcommittee, is expected to be far reaching and comes at a moment when Democrats and Republicans find themselves in rare alignment on the idea that the tech industry has been too unregulated for too long. The sentiment spurred a sharp sell-off in tech stocks to start the week. The Washington Post
Apple announces iOS 13 updates in keynote address
Apple is rolling out its own system for signing into apps as a replacement for those offered by Facebook and Google. During Monday’s 2019 Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced its new “Sign in with Apple” feature, which will allow users to log into apps using Face ID authentication. Apple executive Craig Federighi debuted the change by comparing the new option to Facebook and Google log-in buttons, saying they can be “convenient” but can “also come at the cost of your privacy.”
Federighi said the feature will allow users to sign in “without all the tracking,” and will give users a “hide my email” option to generate a random email address to use with the app that will forward messages to a user’s real address. TechCrunch via The Week
California says coffee cancer risk insignificant
California officially gave its blessing to coffee Monday, declaring the beverage does not pose a “significant” cancer risk. The rule, proposed a year ago by regulators, means coffee won’t have to carry ominous warnings that the beverage may be bad for you. The state took the rare move after a Los Angeles judge found Starbucks Corp. and other companies failed to show that benefits from drinking coffee outweighed risks from a byproduct of the roasting process. The chemical in question, acrylamide, is on a list that California says causes cancer, though other groups classify it as a “probable” carcinogen.
The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, which implements the law, concluded there was no significant risk after a World Health Organization review of more than 1,000 studies and found inadequate evidence that coffee causes cancer. Further, it concluded coffee reduces the risk of some types of cancer. The Voice of America