Global Macro / Markets / Investing:
- Australian miners hit by biggest thermal coal price drop in more than a decade – The Guardian
- Trump Tariffs Backfired, Federal Reserve Study Found – NewsMax
- World’s Richest Gain $1.2 Trillion in 2019 as Jeff Bezos Retains Crown -Bloomberg
- Universal Basic Income: An Idea Whose Time Has Come – The American Conservative
- Climate change caused 15 disasters costing over $1 bn this year: At least 15 natural disasters linked to climate change this year caused damage of over $1 billion and seven of them cost at least $10 billion – MSN
- West Africa’s new currency, the Eco: Rebrand or fresh start? – DW
- Imagining a World Without Capitalism – Project-Syndicate, Varoufakis
- Negotiating While the World Burns – Project-Syndicate
Americas:
- Trump personally stepped in to cut health funding for Puerto Rico in new spending deal, report says – Independent
- China Blocks American Books as Trade War Simmers – NYT
- Federal judge denies bid to restore 98,000 voters in U.S. state of Georgia – Reuters
- Trump Has Spent Millions More of the Public’s Money Golfing in Three Years Than Obama Did in Eight – Law and Crime
- Sanders could win nomination new report states Dem insiders say – MSNBC
- US sees highest number of mass killings on record in 2019 – BBC (the land of the freeeee….)
- Anguish and Anger From the Navy SEALs Who Turned In Edward Gallagher – NYT (and the home of the brave….war criminals)
Europe:
- How has Brexit vote affected UK economy? December verdict – Guardian
- Growing cannabis for personal use not illegal, Italy supreme court rules – Independent
- Britain is set for warmest New Year’s Eve in 178 Years – Daily Mail
- Scuffles break out in Paris as pensions protesters, ‘yellow vests’ march – Reuters
- Greece awards $280 million contract to American defense company Lockheed Martin to upgrade its F-16 fighter jet fleet – DW
Asia/Middle East:
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- China ‘will honour’ US trade war deal promises as talks progress ‘in earnest’ – SCMP
- China tries to quell doubts about growth figures with new measures to stop local officials inflating statistics – SCMP
- China to use new benchmark for floating-rate loans to help reduce borrowing costs – SCMP
- A Chinese city near Shanghai imposes ban on resale of cheap homes to curb speculation – SCMP
- China to Scrap Benchmark Lending Rate in Shift to New System – Bloomberg
- Thai SEAL dies of blood infection contracted during cave rescue last year – USAToday’
- Americans are retiring to Vietnam, for cheap healthcare and a decent standard of living – LA Times
- Modi’s demonetization haunts India, weighing on central bank – Nikkei Asian Review
- Why Asia weaponized rare earths, soybeans and palm oil in 2019 – Nikkei Asian Review
Trans-Tasman:
- Australian banking ends a year from hell as ‘the face of unconscionable greed’ – Guardian
- More than a quarter of a million people have signed a petition calling for Sydney’s New Year’s Eve fireworks to be cancelled and the money spent on fighting fires that threaten the city. – BBC
- Nearly 500 million animals killed in Australian bushfires – Standard
- Volunteer firefighters in New South Wales will get compensation for loss of earnings after spending time away from jobs to battle bushfires in the state, Australia’s federal government says. – BBC
- Fireworks suspected of sparking two fires south of Adelaide – SBS
…and furthermore…
- How Your DNA Test Could Be Used in Unanticipated Ways – Bloomberg
- Disney characters inappropriately touched at theme parks – BBC
- Samoa ends their measles state of emergency after a successful mass vaccination of 95% of the population. – Al Jazeera
- When crowds toppled communism’s house of cards – BBC
- U.S. astronaut sets record for longest space flight by a woman – CBC
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