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Opinion: Trump’s support faces its biggest test | CNN

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1 year ago

March 26, 2023

Opinion: Trump’s support faces its biggest test | CNN

Editor’s Observe: Signal as much as get this weekly column as a publication. We’re trying again on the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and different retailers.

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The Platte River flows eastward by way of Nebraska at depths far too shallow for transport. “In some locations it’s a mile large and three-quarters of an inch deep,” the author Edgar Nye mentioned in 1889, coining a phrase nonetheless in use.

Final week, as former President Donald Trump’s authorized troubles continued to mount, so did a elementary query concerning the 2024 Republican presidential marketing campaign. Is Trump’s assist within the GOP rock-solid, as instructed by the various social gathering figures who rushed to his protection and the followers who attended his rally Saturday – or is it solely a mile large and an inch deep?

If prosecutors in New York Metropolis, Atlanta and Washington carry any fees in opposition to him – and there’s no assurance they may – would it not strengthen his assist or complicate and doubtlessly weaken his marketing campaign for the Republican nomination?

Up to now, Trump is main the pack in early main polling and will even see his numbers develop if he’s arrested – as he predicted final weekend. That arrest has not occurred.

“The hazard going through Republicans is that they may both should bind themselves even tighter to the mast of an intensely polarizing determine, or danger splitting the social gathering by not popping out in his protection,” wrote Patrick T. Brown. “Navigating between these pitfalls would require some willingness to criticize Trump,” he added.

“The extra daring Republicans could attempt to ding Trump for his seamy habits even whereas attacking the politicized prosecution. Considered one of Trump’s presumed rivals for the nomination, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, took a not-so-veiled shot on the former president’s habits,” Brown famous.

“I don’t know what goes into paying hush cash to a porn star to safe silence over some kind of alleged affair,” DeSantis mentioned at the same time as he accused Manhattan District Lawyer Alvin Bragg of “pursuing a political agenda and weaponizing the workplace.”

If Trump is prosecuted, he may reap short-term beneficial properties, wrote Republican strategist Karl Rove within the Wall Road Journal. “An indictment would doubtless provoke many MAGA Republicans to rally round Mr. Trump, at the very least quickly. His standing in 2024 GOP main polls may enhance as a shoddy case from a left-wing district lawyer is more likely to anger partisans,” however Rove added, “Mr. Trump’s technique seems to focus solely on successful the votes of true believers. However many are struggling Trump fatigue and there weren’t sufficient of them to re-elect him final time.”

“Essentially the most possible results of his present ranting and raving will likely be to persuade extra Republicans that he’s unelectable.”

Nonetheless, Trump “thrives on media consideration,” noticed Julian Zelizer. “That is his main weapon in political fight. He likes to dominate the information cycle, redirect nationwide conversations, lash out at his enemies and eclipse all different points.”

“It doesn’t appear to matter that a lot of the eye is unfavorable. As president, actuality tv star and actual property mogul, Trump has solid himself as a fighter who has warded off people and establishments that he claims are out to get him. That is a vital a part of his political persona: the aggrieved public determine who’s at perpetual conflict with the world round him.”

On Saturday, Trump held his first rally since asserting he’s working for president once more. The situation: Waco, Texas.

As Nicole Hemmer identified, “the rally coincides with the thirtieth anniversary of a siege simply exterior of Waco between spiritual extremists, a sect generally known as the Department Davidians led by David Koresh, and the federal authorities. The 51-day standoff started in February 1993 and led to mid-April with a hearth that killed 76 folks, together with 25 kids … For 3 many years, town’s title has been a touchstone for teams who see the federal authorities not simply as an issue however because the central enemy in a slow-rolling civil conflict.”

“In selecting Waco because the kickoff web site for his marketing campaign rallies, Trump has signaled that his courtship of extremist teams will proceed, and that he sees his position as a pivotal determine within the far-right mythos as central to his efforts to retake the presidency,” Hemmer noticed. A spokesperson for Trump mentioned Waco was chosen as a result of it’s conveniently positioned “to have as many supporters from throughout the state and in neighboring states attend this historic rally.”

For extra on politics:

Jill Filipovic: Florida Republicans’ gorgeous bout of misogyny and ignorance

Arick Wierson: What the remainder of the world realizes about prosecuting former presidents

Geoff Duncan: Trump left Georgia’s GOP in ruins – and now faces the results

Dean Obeidallah: Trump’s dangerous name for protests

Former President Barack Obama did it 12 occasions. Trump did it 10 occasions. Greater than midway by way of his time period, President Joe Biden lastly solid his first veto final week, rejecting a invoice that might have banned managers of retirement funds from contemplating environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations in selecting investments.

Witold Henisz, who directs the ESG initiative on the Wharton Faculty of the College of Pennsylvania, wrote in favor of contemplating such elements: “the logic right here is easy and something however political. The worth of some belongings relies upon, for example, on the diploma of worldwide warming or our success in transitioning to wash vitality.”

The issue with ESG investing, noticed Sanjai Bhagat, professor of finance on the College of Colorado, is that “analysis has discovered that investor returns are typically decrease from ESG investing in comparison with non-ESG (or conventional) investing.” The invoice Biden vetoed “would have required retirement fund managers to behave as true fiduciaries of middle-class American retirees — focusing solely on monetary returns of their investments and never on environmental and social points.”

Actor Jason Sudeikis not solely performs the character Ted Lasso, he helped develop the quirky, feel-good present of the identical title. On Monday, Sudeikis and different solid members confirmed up on the White Home to speak about psychological sickness. Some Republicans criticized Biden for collaborating within the public relations enterprise.

“The criticism feels out of contact,” wrote Sara Stewart. “Sure, Ted Lasso is a fictional character and sure, ‘Ted Lasso’ is a comedy; it’s additionally considered one of Apple’s hottest exhibits, with what Politico has known as a ‘unusual bipartisan attraction’ that’s led to its being talked about often by politicians from each side of the aisle. And judging from White Home spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre’s response, the solid’s look Monday drew a document variety of reporters to the press room and yielded a ton of protection, all of which included Sudeikis’ feedback about psychological well being…”

“It’s not the substantive motion we have to make psychological well being care extensively accessible. But. However it’s nonetheless a reasonably savvy strategy to get a variety of Individuals considering and speaking about it, which looks like a good step ahead.”

Protests are roiling France over President Emmanuel Macron’s resolution to lift the retirement age from 62 to 64. “From the far-right acolytes of Marine Le Pen to the far left of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s La France Insoumise (unbowed) social gathering,” David A. Andelman famous, “the political sharks are all smelling blood … although the subsequent elections aren’t for one more 4 years.”

The affect could be seen on the streets: Along with demonstrations in opposition to Macron, rubbish collectors went on strike, and greater than 7,000 tons of trash piled up in Paris.

However France, which spends virtually twice as a lot of its GDP on pensions than the US, has a price range drawback and diminished pension spending may assist, Andelman wrote.

Catherine Poisson, a French native who teaches at Wesleyan College in Connecticut, wrote, “For these of us raised in French tradition, work refers to a finite interval of life lasting roughly 40 years. And when that work is finished, you’re nonetheless younger sufficient and match sufficient to take pleasure in one of the best of what life has to supply. It’s the norm that retirement years — or many years really — are spent touring, caring for grandchildren or choosing up new hobbies.”

Shou Zi Chew, chief govt of the immensely in style social community TikTok, failed to steer members of Congress Thursday that his platform is secure for Individuals, regardless of the corporate’s ties to China.

Alex Stamos, former chief safety officer of Fb, wrote that “nationwide safety considerations about TikTok are justified. ByteDance, like every other Chinese language firm, is topic to legal guidelines that compel excessive compliance with the pursuits and dictums of the state. There is no such thing as a First Modification or unbiased judiciary to guard ByteDance executives in the event that they determined to disclaim China’s requests. President Xi has made that clear by taking direct motion in opposition to China’s richest and strongest CEOs.’

TikTok is aware of “an enormous quantity concerning the demographics, pursuits, location, contacts and gadgets of its 1.5 billion customers.” However Stamos argued that the issue is larger than TikTok.

“There is no such thing as a US legislation clearly governing the entry that Beijing or Moscow-based workers of any tech or social media firm should the non-public information of US residents that use their providers. And, there may be at the moment no federal legislation discouraging the overcollection of essential information or personally identifiable data.

“It’s time for Congress to lastly move a complete privateness legislation.”

Privateness isn’t the one subject posed by social media. A research launched final week discovered that the variety of Twitter posts containing antisemitic language doubled after Elon Musk took over Twitter in October.

“Researchers tried to get a remark from Twitter,” Frida Ghitis wrote, “however the response was an e mail exhibiting a poop emoji. That’s the identical response Musk despatched after one other research, again in December, discovered an explosion of racist tweets after he purchased the platform.”

If social media feels too overwhelming, attempt what Tess Taylor did: “a deep social media unplug.”

“Time on-line was making me bored, anxious and grumpy. I used to be falling down consideration rabbit-holes, scrolling for boots once I really wished to play Uno with my children. I used to be shopping for stuff I can’t afford, didn’t want and didn’t even need … I felt susceptible and uncovered to random fury: you may go surfing to love somebody’s new child and instantly be swept up within the day’s melee, like being slammed into rush hour visitors.”

Taylor used a little bit of her offline time to talk with poet Julia Guez. She “had among the finest guidelines for social media use of anybody I talked to,” Taylor wrote.

Guez’s guidelines: “By no means within the morning, by no means in mattress, by no means earlier than mattress, by no means within the bed room. Totally on the practice, with a view to discover out different folks’s excellent news, and amplify it, and generally to then to jot down a letter or really name a good friend who you’ve seen put up one thing and examine in on them.”

Lanhee Chen: The SVB collapse doesn’t should be the primary in a series of many

Deborah Carr: Rupert Murdoch is tying the knot (once more). Why the blowback is misplaced

Mitra Salasel: My father’s expertise with frontotemporal dementia makes me grieve for Bruce Willis’ household

Justin Hansford and Shaq Al-Hijaz: As GOP governors obscure Black historical past, let’s lastly inform the reality about Marcus Garvey

Scott Faber: We’ve been consuming harmful chemical compounds for a lot too lengthy

Revs. William J. Barber II and Liz Theoharis: America, cease grinding the faces of the poor

Mike Chinoy: The ‘golden age’ for American journalists in China is over

Chandelis Duster: My endometriosis ache induced me to make an enormous resolution

AND…

For 31 years, the Labrador retriever dominated the canine kingdom as America’s hottest breed. However now it has ceded that title to what Urmee Khan described as “a pint-sized, sedentary, furry gargoyle”—the French bulldog.

Khan shares her London abode with Bertie, one of many newly ennobled breed.

“It will be straightforward to dismiss French bulldogs, with their squidgy, cartoon faces and small squat our bodies, as little greater than a purse accent. Celebrities in all places are photographed toting a child Frenchie in a shoulder bag, or holding one on the finish of an costly designer leash.”

Why the brand new reputation? “Within the post-Covid period, these extra inward-looking occasions name for a pup that’s much less demanding, a pet whose firm you’ll be able to take pleasure in throughout the quiet and solace of your 4 partitions.”

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Anglo American plans break-up after rejecting £34bn BHP bid

Published

22 mins ago

May 14, 2024

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Anglo American plans break-up after rejecting £34bn BHP bid

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Anglo American plans to break itself up as the embattled mining group tries to win over shareholders following its rejection of a £34bn takeover bid from rival BHP.

In a series of sweeping changes to the 107-year-old mining company, Anglo said on Tuesday that it would sell or demerge its De Beers diamond business, its South African-based Anglo American Platinum operation as well as its coking coal assets.

London-listed Anglo will instead focus on its copper, iron ore and crop nutrients businesses. BHP, the world’s biggest miner, has set its sights on securing Anglo’s copper business, which is expected to boom as the world decarbonises.

Since rebuffing two approaches from BHP, Anglo’s chief executive Duncan Wanblad has been under intense pressure to set out the group’s future as a standalone group.

Laying out the proposed changes, Wanblad said: “These actions represent the most radical changes to Anglo American in decades.” They will result in “a radically simpler business [that] will deliver sustainable incremental value creation”.

Anglo said it would also pull back on spending on Woodsmith, a flagship project in the UK designed to create a vast underground mine producing a yet-unproven fertiliser. Instead of spending $1bn a year to build the mine by 2027, only $200mn will be spent next year and nothing in 2026.

Shares in Anglo fell 0.5 per cent to £27.03 in early trading on Tuesday. BHP’s improved offer valued Anglo at £27.53, up from approximately £25 in its original bid.

Anglo shareholders have predicted that the group would struggle to sustain its current structure. They have long complained that the value of Anglo’s coveted copper mines in Latin America has been obscured by its other lacklustre operations, particularly its platinum and diamond divisions.

As part of its bids, BHP has a provision requiring Anglo to spin off its two Johannesburg-listed subsidiaries, Anglo American Platinum and iron ore miner Kumba.

Following Anglo’s announcement on Tuesday, shares in Anglo American Platinum, which produces a range of metals in South Africa, fell 7 per cent. Anglo intends to keep Kumba Iron Ore as part of a “premium” iron ore division that would also include its Minas Rio mine in Brazil.

Alongside dismantling the structure it has maintained for years, Anglo also vowed to cut a further $800mn of costs annually on top of $1bn already earmarked.

Anglo provided few details on where the cost savings would come from, saying it would “need to consider its global workforce arrangements to realise the opportunities for its employees and to ensure delivery of the accelerated strategy”.

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Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom

Published

42 mins ago

May 14, 2024

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Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom

Explosive charges are detonated to bring down sections of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge resting on the container ship Dali on Monday in Baltimore.

Mark Schiefelbein/AP

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Mark Schiefelbein/AP

Explosive charges are detonated to bring down sections of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge resting on the container ship Dali on Monday in Baltimore.

Mark Schiefelbein/AP

BALTIMORE — Crews set off a chain of carefully placed explosives Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, and with a boom and a splash, the mangled steel trusses came crashing down into the river below.

The explosives flashed orange and let off plumes of black smoke upon detonation. The longest trusses toppled away from the grounded Dali container ship and slid off its bow, sending a wall of water splashing back toward the ship.

It marked a major step in freeing the Dali, which has been stuck among the wreckage since it lost power and crashed into one of the bridge’s support columns shortly after leaving Baltimore on March 26.

The collapse killed six construction workers and halted most maritime traffic through Baltimore’s busy port. The controlled demolition will allow the Dali to be refloated and restore traffic through the port, which will provide relief for thousands of longshoremen, truckers and small business owners who have seen their jobs impacted by the closure.

Officials said the detonation went as planned. They said the next step in the dynamic cleanup process is to assess the few remaining trusses on the Dali’s bow and make sure none of the underwater wreckage is preventing the ship from being refloated and moved.

Bridge projects across U.S. offer clues to what may replace Baltimore's fallen span

“It’s a lot like peeling back an onion,” said Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Officials expect to refloat the ship within the next few days. Then three or four tugboats will guide it to a nearby terminal at the port. It will likely remain there for a several weeks and undergo temporary repairs before being moved to a shipyard for more substantial repairs.

“This was a very big milestone for our progression forward,” Col. Estee Pinchasin, Baltimore District Commander for the Army Corps of Engineers, said in the immediate aftermath of the demolition. She said crews don’t anticipate having to use any more explosives.

The Dali’s crew remained on board the ship during the detonation, and no injuries or problems were reported, said Capt. David O’Connell, commander of the Port of Baltimore.

The crew members haven’t been allowed to leave the grounded vessel since the disaster. Officials said they’ve been busy maintaining the ship and assisting investigators. Of the crew members, 20 are from India and one is Sri Lankan.

Explosive charges are detonated to bring down sections of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge resting on the container ship Dali on Monday in Baltimore.

Mark Schiefelbein/AP

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Mark Schiefelbein/AP

Explosive charges are detonated to bring down sections of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge resting on the container ship Dali on Monday in Baltimore.

Mark Schiefelbein/AP

Engineers spent weeks preparing to use explosives to break down the span, which was an estimated 500 feet (152 meters) long and weighs up to 600 tons (544 metric tons). The demolition was postponed Sunday because of thunderstorms.

“This is a best practice,” Gov. Wes Moore said at a news conference Monday, noting that there have been no injuries during the cleanup to date. “Safety in this operation is our top priority.”

Fire teams were stationed in the area during the explosion in case of any problematic flying sparks, officials said.

In a videographic released this week, authorities said engineers were using precision cuts to control how the trusses break down. They said the method allows for “surgical precision” and is one of the safest and most efficient ways to remove steel under a high level of tension. Hydraulic grabbers will now lift the broken sections of steel onto barges.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the FBI are conducting investigations into the bridge collapse. Officials have said the safety board investigation will focus on the ship’s electrical system.

Danish shipping giant Maersk had chartered the Dali for a planned trip from Baltimore to Sri Lanka, but the ship didn’t get far. Its crew sent a mayday call saying they had lost power and had no control of the steering system. Minutes later, the ship rammed into the bridge.

State and federal officials have commended the salvage crews and other members of the cleanup operation who helped recover the remains of the six construction workers. The last body was recovered from the underwater wreckage last week. All of the victims were Latino immigrants who came to the U.S. for job opportunities. They were filling potholes on an overnight shift when the bridge was destroyed.

Officials said the operation remains on track to reopen the port’s 50-foot (15-meter) deep draft channel by the end of May. Until then, crews have established a temporary channel that’s slightly shallower. Officials said 365 commercial vessels have passed through the port in recent weeks. The port normally processes more cars and farm equipment than any other in the country.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Baltimore native whose father and brother served as mayor decades ago, compared the Key Bridge disaster to the overnight bombardment of Baltimore’s Fort McHenry, which long ago inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner” during the War of 1812. She said both are a testament to Maryland’s resilience.

Pelosi, a Democrat who represents California’s 11th district, attended Monday’s news conference with two of her relatives. She praised the collective response to the tragedy as various government agencies have come together, working quickly without sacrificing safety.

“Proof through the night that our flag was still there,” she said. “That’s Baltimore strong.”

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Why Hong Kong should put debt restructuring back on the legislative agenda

Published

8 hours ago

May 13, 2024

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Why Hong Kong should put debt restructuring back on the legislative agenda

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In January, journalists, corporate consultants and restructuring specialists filled up a Hong Kong courtroom in a rare scene to attend Evergrande’s winding-up hearing where judge Linda Chan declared “enough is enough” and handed down a liquidation order.

The landmark case involving China’s once-biggest property developer by sales with more than $300bn in liabilities has put the territory’s legal framework for resolving debt problems back in the spotlight. More than 20 Chinese developers have been slapped with winding-up petitions in Hong Kong since China’s real estate crisis began in 2021, with at least five being ordered to be wound up by a Hong Kong judge.

This is not a great result for any of the parties involved. Often described as a “nuclear option” and a lose-lose scenario by lawyers, these winding-up court proceedings leave creditors with little to no return. And proceedings can drag out for many months.

Lawyers and restructuring specialists say Hong Kong’s legal framework for other debt restructuring options is lacking compared with financial jurisdictions such as London, New York and Singapore.

A restructuring bill to remedy this has been in discussion for more than 20 years in the Asian financial hub but other legislative priorities have taken precedence amid a lack of consensus on what it should contain. The last push to introduce one came in 2020 when a draft legislative proposal was made as the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

The Hong Kong government carried out a consultation but later put the plan again on hold. Although it said it would continue to consult stakeholders to refine the legislative proposals, there does not appear to be a timeframe for that.

Lawyers said there was a pressing need to raise the proposal back up the agenda, particularly as offshore creditors increasingly use Hong Kong courts to force distressed Chinese developers into speeding up their restructuring plans.

Chinese developers have defaulted on a massive $115bn of $175bn in outstanding offshore dollar bonds since 2021, according to Bloomberg data. And property developer Shimao last month became one of the latest to face a winding-up petition, unusually from a Chinese state-backed bank. Country Garden, which defaulted in October, received a winding-up petition in February involving more than $200mn worth of debt.

A key element of a restructuring bill is that after the appointment of a supervisor for a debt restructuring, a statutory moratorium would be imposed to halt parties from rushing off to court and asking for a winding up.

Under the current legal system in Hong Kong, creditors are free to go after distressed companies by filing wind-up petitions before a scheme of arrangement for a restructuring is agreed and then approved by a court, according to Jamie Stranger, a Hong Kong-based partner at Stephenson Harwood.

Law firm Herbert Smith Freehills says this gives “dissenting creditors significant leverage to hold the company and other consenting creditors to ransom and otherwise encourages ‘rogue’ behaviour by them, which in turn jeopardises the restructuring efforts”. It adds: “This often leads to a worse outcome for all interested parties where there is a genuine prospect that the restructured business would be able to trade out of its difficulties.”

One problem is to what extent would a restructuring bill cover mainland Chinese assets. Under the existing winding-up process in Hong Kong, it is very unlikely for offshore creditors to get back any onshore mainland assets. This is despite a “mutual recognition agreement” on insolvency and restructuring rolled out in 2021 that applies in some parts of mainland China. Offshore creditors remain typically subordinated to onshore stakeholders, lawyers say.

A bill “would need to interface with the mainland laws and provide some ability for a provisional supervisor to be recognised and assisted in the mainland”, Jonathan Leitch, a Hong Kong-based partner at Hogan Lovells, told me. Otherwise, the roles of a Hong Kong-based provisional supervisor in most cases “would be severely hampered”.

Lance Jiang, a partner in restructuring and insolvency at law firm Ashurst, says: “Most practitioners would like to have the new restructuring bill, because it definitely mitigates the gap between Hong Kong and other international centres and would give the companies and also the creditors side with more options to do consensual restructuring.”

“It’s Hong Kong, you know, the legislative council can do it quickly, efficiently,” says Jiang, adding that this would benefit everyone in the market.

thomas.chan@ft.com