Bhinneka News Online: Friday Morning Briefing: Day four at the World Economic Forum

Friday 24 January 2020

Friday Morning Briefing: Day four at the World Economic Forum

DAY 4: 2020 WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

Isabelle Axelsson is one of the youngest delegates at Davos, where the 19-year-old, dressed in Doc Martin boots and dungarees, and her fellow climate activists are calling on the world leaders to do more to tackle climate change. Axelsson is part of the Stockholm branch of “Fridays for Future” which includes founding member Greta Thunberg. “People are taking us more seriously than they were before,” Axelsson told Reuters this week in the flat she is sharing with fellow campaigners from Switzerland and Germany, adding: “I think it’s a lot of talk and not enough action.”

↑ Swedish climate change activist Isabelle Axelsson attends a session at the WEF, January 21, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Andrew Funk has been shivering through the nights in a tent pitched in the snow of Davos this week as political and business leaders returned to their cozy hotels and apartments nestled in the swank Swiss ski resort. Funk, who heads Spanish charity Homeless Entrepreneur, has spent his days trawling the WEF hoping to make contacts and highlight the plight of people without places to live around the world.

“We’re sleeping out in Davos because we believe that there are decision-makers here that need to, instead of think differently, they need to act differently to end homelessness,” he told Reuters.

↑ Andrew Funk poses in Davos, Switzerland January 22, 2020. REUTERS/Fejda Grulovic

The United States wants to conclude a trade deal with the United Kingdom this year, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. “The UK is our number one ally and it would be at the top of the list of trade agreements,” Mnuchin said. “We look forward to getting that done this year.”

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde dismissed a recent uptick in euro zone inflation as “really minor,” adding that much higher readings would be needed to change the picture. “We’re seeing inflation moving a teeny, tiny little bit but this is really minor,” Lagarde said during a panel discussion. “It would take much higher numbers to actually change the picture fundamentally.”

Colombia’s President Ivan Duque said technology companies were welcome in his country, but they had to operate on a level playing field with local firms. “It’s smart regulation to level the field and to … not … have unfair competition among parties,” he told Reuters. Duque’s comments follow a court order late last year against ride-hailing company Uber. The country has ordered Uber to cease operations after a judge said it violated competition rules.

IMPEACHMENT

↑ House Manager Rep. Adam Schiff speaks next to Rep. Jerry Nadler near the Senate Subway in Washington, U.S., January 22, 2020. REUTERS/Mary F. Calvert

The lawmaker walking U.S. senators methodically through the case for removing President Trump from office is also becoming Exhibit A in efforts by the president’s allies to defend him. Over the first three days of Trump’s impeachment trial, the head of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, has led a team of Democratic lawmakers serving as prosecutors as they lay out their evidence that Trump abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading 2020 Democratic presidential contender.

How long can the U.S. Senate sit still? The 100 U.S. senators who will determine whether to remove President Trump from office at the end of his impeachment trial managed to stay seated and listen to the Democratic case against him for about 20 minutes. Despite a warning about the power of Senate security, members of both parties disregarded rules that call for them to remain seated and silent through the impeachment trial before voting as jurors on Trump’s fate.

About 8.9 million TV viewers watched the U.S. Senate impeachment trial of Trump on Wednesday, the first day Democrats laid out their case against the president, marking a significant drop from the roughly 11 million viewers who watched on Tuesday, according to Nielsen ratings data.

World

China shuts transport, temples as virus toll hits 26

China ramped up measures to contain a virus that has killed 26 people and infected more than 800, suspending public transport in 10 cities, shutting temples over the Lunar New Year and even closing the Forbidden City and part of the Great Wall.

6 min read

'No, No America': Iraq protesters demand U.S. military pullout

Thousands of Iraqis rallied at two central Baghdad intersections on Friday after a prominent cleric called for a “million strong” protest against the American military presence, following the U.S. killing of an Iranian general and an Iraqi militia chief.

5 min read

UK scolds U.S. for refusing to give up diplomat's wife involved in crash

Britain scolded the United States for refusing to extradite a U.S. diplomat’s wife who was involved in a car crash that killed a British teenager. British prosecutors had requested the extradition of Anne Sacoolas over the crash last August in which 19-year-old Briton Harry Dunn was killed while riding his motorbike.

2 min read