Bhinneka News Online: Monday Morning Briefing: Democrats lose ground with millennials

Monday 30 April 2018

Monday Morning Briefing: Democrats lose ground with millennials - poll

Highlights

Exclusive: Enthusiasm for the Democratic Party is waning among young voters, so-called millennials, as its candidates head into the crucial midterm congressional elections, according to the Reuters/Ipsos national opinion poll. The online survey of more than 16,000 registered voters ages 18 to 34 shows their support for Democrats over Republicans for Congress slipped by about 9 percentage points over the past two years, to 46 percent overall. And they increasingly say the Republican Party is a better steward of the economy.

About 50 people from a Central American migrant caravan including women, children and transgender individuals tried to seek U.S. asylum but were not allowed to cross the Mexico border because officials said the facility was full.

Iran’s supreme leader hit out at the United States a day after new Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Riyadh, accusing Washington of trying to stoke a “regional crisis” by provoking its ally Saudi Arabia to confront Tehran.

Joe Brock

@joebrock2

Our exclusive story on Harry & Meghan’s romantic holiday in Botswana: sunset cruise, dinner under the stars and farewell tears @reuters https://reut.rs/2r9nnec #RoyalWedding #PrinceHarry #MeghanMarkle #Botswana #okavangodelta

2:05 AM - Apr 30, 2018

World

Twin blasts in the Afghan capital Kabul killed at least 25 people, including eight journalists who had arrived to report on the first explosion and who were apparently targeted by a suicide bomber, officials said. Several hours later, a suicide bomber in a vehicle attacked foreign military forces in the southern province of Kandahar, killing 11 children studying in a nearby religious school, police said.

A police officer who testified that police framed two Reuters reporters has been sentenced to an undisclosed prison term for violating Myanmar’s Police Disciplinary Act, a police spokesman told Reuters on Sunday, without elaborating. Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been imprisoned for 140 days.

South Korean trust in North Korea has surged since last week’s feel-good summit at which their leaders declared an end to hostilities and to work towards denuclearization of the peninsula. A survey taken the day North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met South Korean President Moon Jae-in, showed 64.7 percent believe the North will denuclearize and keep peace. Before the summit, only 14.7 percent of those polled said they did, research agency Realmeter said.

Sponsored by Barclays: The fate of human jobs. Advances in technology have brought us to a tipping point. Is this the end of work as we know it? Get the report.

Commentary: Emmanuel Macron's state visit to Washington may have achieved a surprising result, writes John Lloyd. There's a chance that the French president showed President Donald Trump "that the leader of the free world must embrace the ideals of liberty, democracy and the rule of law as well as respect agreements."

Business

Exclusive: U.S. EPA grants biofuels waiver to billionaire Icahn's oil refinery - sources

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted a financial hardship waiver to an oil refinery owned by billionaire Carl Icahn, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, exempting the Oklahoma facility from requirements under a federal biofuels law, according to two industry sources briefed on the matter.

6 min read

T-Mobile, Sprint say $26 billion deal would give U.S. tech lead over China

T-Mobile US and Sprint said they had agreed to a $26 billion all-stock deal and believed they could win over skeptical regulators because the merger would create thousands of jobs and help the United States beat China to creating the next generation mobile network.

7 Min Read

Marathon Petroleum to buy Andeavor for $23 billion

Marathon Petroleum Corp said it would buy rival Andeavor for more than $23 billion to form a company that would leapfrog Valero Energy Corp as the largest U.S. refiner by capacity.

2 min read

Sainsbury's in $10 billion swoop on Asda to create top UK supermarket

Sainsbury’s has agreed to buy Walmart’s Asda for about 7.3 billion pounds ($10 billion) to create Britain’s biggest supermarket group by market share, overtaking long-standing industry leader Tesco.

5 min read