Bloomberg
“Shutdown Continues as Democrats Demand Firmer Immigration Pledge.”
Senate Democrats cast doubt Monday on hopes for a quick resolution to the government shutdown as they demanded a more binding promise from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on an immigration deal he proposed. “Hopefully we can resolve this in the next day or two,” Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar told reporters after emerging from a bipartisan meeting of Senate moderates. “I would just hope it gets resolved as soon as possible, and I can’t tell you what day.”
Independent Angus King of Maine said that ending the shutdown, which is extending into its third day, will rest in large part on McConnell, who said Sunday night that his “intention” would be to begin a debate on immigration in the next few weeks.
Many more Americans will begin feeling the repercussions of a shutdown that officially began at 12:01 a.m. Saturday after most government offices had stopped work for the weekend. The widening disruption intensifies frantic efforts by Republicans and Democrats to blame one another for the deadlock and may harden the determination of lawmakers to gain leverage from the moment.
McConnell scheduled a vote at noon Monday that could end the shutdown just as it begins to take hold, but it’s unclear whether enough Democrats will support an immigration deal he offered late Sunday.
Investors took the news of the impasse in stride. The dollar is weaker against most major currencies while Treasuries halted a selloff and U.S. equity futures moved between losses and gains. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was slightly lower at 2.64 percent and the S&P 500 Index was little changed in Monday morning trading.
Reuters
“Europe readies riposte to Trump’s ‘America First’ push in Davos.”
European leaders will be out in force at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week to defend multilateralism before U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to deliver his “America First” message.
Politicians, business chiefs, bankers and celebrities will meet in the Swiss Alps under the banner “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World” for the four-day gathering against an unsettling global backdrop.
A decade after the bankruptcy of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers helped trigger a global financial crisis, economic growth has returned and stock markets are hitting record highs.
Yet there is a nagging fear among many in Davos that the brighter economic outlook could turn out to be little more than a mirage if the daunting array of geopolitical threats – from protectionism and climate change to cyber attacks and outright war – gather pace in 2018.
Politicians, business chiefs, bankers and celebrities will meet in the Swiss Alps under the banner “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World” for the four-day gathering against an unsettling global backdrop.
A decade after the bankruptcy of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers helped trigger a global financial crisis, economic growth has returned and stock markets are hitting record highs. Yet there is a nagging fear among many in Davos that the brighter economic outlook could turn out to be little more than a mirage if the daunting array of geopolitical threats – from protectionism and climate change to cyber attacks and outright war – gather pace in 2018.
In the days between Modi and Trump, the leaders of Europe’s biggest countries, absent from Davos last year and emboldened by their own economic recovery, will offer an alternative vision to Trump and Xi, who the Europeans say has failed to deliver on his promise of a year ago to open China up to foreign investment.
BBC News
“Syria offensive: Turkish troops ‘capture villages’ in Afrin.”
Turkish forces have captured a number of villages in north-western Syria, on the third day of an offensive to oust Kurdish fighters, Turkish media report.
Troops, accompanied by allied Syrian rebels, reportedly seized control of several areas in Afrin on Monday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would not «step back» in the assault following talks with Russia. Turkey considers the Kurdish YPG militia it is targeting in the region to be a terrorist group.
The YPG, which controls much of north-eastern Syria, is believed by Turkey to be an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey for three decades. The YPG denies any direct links and is a crucial part of a US-backed alliance battling Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria. Ankara has condemned the US for supporting the YPG and this latest development in the Syrian civil war puts Turkey on a collision course with its Nato ally.
The Syrian government, its ally Iran and Egypt have all condemned Turkey’s offensive. A UN security council meeting due to take place later on Monday, which was called by France to discuss the humanitarian situation in Syria in general, is expected to discuss the latest developments in Afrin.
Bloomberg
“IMF Raises 2018 Global Growth Forecast, Partly on U.S. Tax Cuts.”
The International Monetary Fund warned policymakers to be on guard for the next recession even as it predicted global growth will accelerate to the fastest pace in seven years as U.S. tax cuts spur businesses to invest.
The fund raised its forecast for world expansion to 3.9 percent this year and next, up 0.2 percentage point both years from its projection in October. That would be the fastest rate since 2011, when the world was bouncing back from the financial crisis.
The strengthening recovery offers a “perfect opportunity now for world leaders to repair their roof,” IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told reporters Monday in Davos, Switzerland where the World Economic Forum is meeting. “Growth in our view needs to be more inclusive.”
About half of the IMF’s global upgrade stems from the Republican tax cuts passed in December and enacted this year. Cuts to the corporate tax rate will give the world’s biggest economy a shot in the arm, lifting U.S. growth to 2.7 percent this year, 0.4 point higher than the fund expected in October, the IMF said Monday in an update to its World Economic Outlook. Projected U.S. growth was the highest among advanced economies.
But in an unfortunate twist for President Donald Trump, who loathes the $505-billion U.S. trade gap, the nation’s current-account deficit will widen as stronger demand drives imports. The IMF also predicted that the tax plan will reduce U.S. growth after 2022, offsetting earlier gains, as some of the individual cuts expire and the U.S. tries to curb its budget deficit.
The IMF’s sunnier outlook will be cause for relief as the world’s financial and political elite converge on Davos, Switzerland, this week for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. Just past the first anniversary of his administration, Trump is scheduled to speak on Jan. 26 to deliver an “America First” message touting his economic agenda. A government shutdown in Washington could scuttle the president’s plans for Davos, though.