Britain: Into the Brexit unknown, a dis-United Kingdom exits the European Union

The United Kingdom leaves the European Union an hour before midnight on Friday, casting off into an uncertain Brexit future that also challenges Europe's post-World War Two project of forging unity from the ruins of conflict.

Read more at:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-preview/into-the-brexit-unknown-a-dis-united-kingdom-exits-the-european-union-idUKKBN1ZS205

Britain: Into the Brexit unknown, a dis-United Kingdom exits the European Union

The United Kingdom leaves the European Union an hour before midnight on Friday, casting off into an uncertain Brexit future that also challenges Europe's post-World War Two project of forging unity from the ruins of conflict.

Read more at:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-preview/into-the-brexit-unknown-a-dis-united-kingdom-exits-the-european-union-idUKKBN1ZS205

US Economy: Dow Drops Over 450 Points on Coronavirus Fears

The Dow industrials fell more than 450 points and crude oil slumped as the coronavirus spread from China to other countries, intensifying concerns it would deliver a fresh setback to the outlook for world economic growth.

Read more at:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-slide-on-coronavirus-fears-11580119666

New inventions; Ringing biology to bricks — concrete details on how to grow building materials

 Researchers have created a 'Franken-concrete' that heals itself, grows additional bricks and could provide a green alternative to traditional building materials

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/intermittent-fasting-the-math-of-espresso-biological-bricks-and-more-1.5438088/bringing-biology-to-bricks-concrete-details-on-how-to-grow-building-materials-1.5438097

Global Economy: The Dow is about to face its stiffest test in years

 Read more at:

The Dow is about to face its stiffest test in years - MarketWatch

Coronavirus | About | Prevention and Treatment | CDC

CDC Coronavirus: About prevention and treatment - Describes how to reduce your risk of getting coronavirus infection, and how to relieve symptoms if you get infected.

Read more at :
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/about/prevention.html

Global Economy: Global stocks steady as caution on China virus continues; euro hits seven-week low after ECB announcement

Stocks made a barely positive start in early Asian trade on Friday after the world's health body called it a little too early to declare a coronavirus outbreak a global emergency.

Read more at:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets/global-stocks-steady-as-caution-on-china-virus-continues-euro-hits-seven-week-low-after-ecb-idUKKBN1ZN02O

Britain-Trade tensions rise as US threatens car tariffs

US treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin has threatened new tariffs on UK carmakers after the chancellor defied pressure to cancel a new tax on tech firms.

Mr Javid said the UK would not back down over the tax which will hit US firms like Apple, Amazon and Facebook.

A trade deal with the EU would take priority over one with the US after the UK leaves the EU this month, he added.

Read more: Trade tensions rise as US threatens car tariffs - BBC News

Global Economic Outlook for 2020 Is Good, but Risks Abound

After a rocky 2018 and truly rough patches in 2019, especially particular sectors such as global manufacturing and U.S. agriculture, the consensus outlook for the global economy next year is surprising

Most mainstream forecasters expect that the worst of the storms are past, and they are expecting global growth to rebound: the International Monetary Fund by 3.4 percent, the World Bank by 2.7 percent.

One big reason for the dose of optimism is the generally looser approach to the money supply taken by central banks around the world, which helped offset some of the pain of trade wars and falling investment in 2019 and promises to allow a modest rebound next year (but which carries its own risks).

Read more at: Economic Outlook for 2020 Is Good, but Risks Abound

Denmark-Estonia relations: Danske Bank Money Laundering Probe Expands

The Estonian Prosecutor's Office confirmed on Thursday it expanded the investigation into money laundering through Danske bank’s Estonian branch from two to more than 10 cases that are involving suspicious transactions worth US$ 2 billion.

Prosecutors were previously looking into suspect money flows worth $300 million relating to two separate cases.

After media broke the story about extensive money laundering in the Estonian branch of Denmark’s biggest bank, Danske launched an investigation into 15,000 of its customers and 200 billion euro (US$222 billion) worth of transactions.

In 2018, the bank admitted that it 6,200 customers had hit the most risk indicators and that most of them have been found to be suspicious. Most of the customers were from Russia and other post-Soviet countries.

The bank closed its branches in the Baltics and promised to cooperate with investigators. The scandal also triggered worldwide probes and lawsuits.

Read more: Estonia: Danske Bank Money Laundering Probe Expands

British territory Gibraltar 'could stay in Schengen Area after Brexit'

Gibraltar's chief minister, Fabian Picardo, says the territory should remain accessible to the rest of the EU after January 31

Read more at:
https://www.euronews.com/2020/01/18/british-territory-gibraltar-could-stay-in-schengen-area-after-brexit

Switzerland-Davos 2020: American politics is the biggest risk facing the world right now, say experts

American politics is the biggest threat facing the world in 2020 and the looming presidential election will stress the country's institutions, influence economic and foreign policy and further divide an already polarized electorate, with potentially huge consequences for the climate, business and investors.

That's the view of experts at consultancies Eurasia Group and Control Risks.

The World Economic Forum, which is preparing to hold its annual meeting of political leaders and CEOs next week in Davos, is also warning of increased turbulence this year from trade conflicts and political polarization that makes it harder to tackle global challenges.

Read more: Davos 2020: American politics is the biggest risk facing the world right now, say experts

China-US Trade Deal Opinion: Trump's trade deal with China ignores the big picture (and is self-serving re: impeachment) - by Lindsay Gorman

By many counts, the trade deal President Trump signed on Wednesday with China lacks heft. It doesn’t remove all the tariffs, it doesn’t impose any major penalties on intellectual property theft, and it punts completely on issues including China’s state subsidies to prop up its own companies in international markets.

Yet on one matter, the agreement could dramatically alter the U.S.-China relationship and the future of global democracy.

China isn’t any nation. It’s a high-tech superpower deeply embedded in the global economy. And as documented extensively by a variety of organizations including Freedom House and Human Rights Watch, China’s authoritarian government exploits economic ties and uses the technology it develops and acquires to control its own population and to extend its power abroad.

Some 63 countries and counting have bought Chinese-made artificial intelligence surveillance equipment. This technology has been deployed by the Chinese government to control the Uighurs through a sophisticated network of facial recognition cameras, GPS trackers, DNA checkpoints, and online-behavior monitoring on a 24-hour basis.

Outside of Xinjiang, 200 million cameras watch China’s population. In some schools, children wear GPS and facial-recognition-enabled uniforms designed to keep them in line. And beyond China’s borders, its companies sell tracking and monitoring set-ups to authoritarian police forces worldwide. With these purchases comes training on how to identify threats by studying the walking gait of an individual in a series of video camera frames, or through “public opinion guidance,” which uses artificial intelligence to monitor citizens’ speech. In short, this is the technological grounding for 21st century authoritarianism.

Unfortunately, China’s own actions make a return to the post-trade-war status quo unlikely. In addition to its high-tech-driven human rights abuses, Beijing is actively working to undermine democracies worldwide using social media disinformation campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as through state-funded traditional media beyond the Chinese-speaking world.

The new trade agreement will not resolve strains in the U.S.-China relationship — nor should it. This tension is grounded in the profound ideological differences between democracy and the Chinese Communist Party’s model of repression that it is disseminating around the world. If the United States treats this trade truce as a reset for the broader relationship, it would be tacitly accepting China’s abuses and its efforts to promote their spread.

Note EU-Digest: let us also not forget that Trump in order to distract public attention from his own troubles re: impeachment, is using  every avenue at his disposal to shore-up his popularity and that includes this very nebulous trade agreement with the Chinese.

Read more: Opinion: Trump's trade deal with China ignores the big picture - Los Angeles Times

France: French Economy to Grow 1.3% With a Pension Deal, Le Maire Says -by Phil Serafino

The French economy will grow 1.3% this year, the same pace as 2019, as long as a compromise is reached quickly with labor unions that are on strike over pension reform, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche.

“The economic outlook for France is good and solid,” Le Maire told the newspaper. The economy has created more than 500,000 jobs since 2017, and unemployment should drop to 7% by the end of President Emmanuel Macron’s term in 2022, he said. The jobless rate was 8.3% in the third quarter.

Read more: French Economy to Grow 1.3% With a Pension Deal, Le Maire Says - Bloomberg

China - US trade deal: World stocks pause at record peak as markets assess U.S.-China deal

World stocks inched ahead to a record high on Thursday after the United States and China signed an initial deal to defuse their 18-month trade war, though financial markets were wary as a number of thorny issues remained unresolved.

Read more at:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets/world-stocks-pause-at-record-peak-as-markets-assess-u-s-china-deal-idUKKBN1ZF02X

France: French Economy to Grow 1.3% With a Pension Deal, Le Maire Says -by Phil Serafino

The French economy will grow 1.3% this year, the same pace as 2019, as long as a compromise is reached quickly with labor unions that are on strike over pension reform, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche.

“The economic outlook for France is good and solid,” Le Maire told the newspaper. The economy has created more than 500,000 jobs since 2017, and unemployment should drop to 7% by the end of President Emmanuel Macron’s term in 2022, he said. The jobless rate was 8.3% in the third quarter.

Read more: French Economy to Grow 1.3% With a Pension Deal, Le Maire Says - Bloomberg

German Economy: Germany posts record-breaking budget surplus

Germany had a record budget surplus of € 13.5 billion ($15 billion) at the end of 2019, the Finance Ministry announced on Monday.

"We've had a bit of luck, and of course we've economized well," German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said in Berlin on Monday, just a year after he claimed the "fat" years were over for Germany.

It is the third time in the last five years that Europe's largest economy closed the year with a budget surplus. The 2019 surplus overtook a 2015 budget surplus of €12.1 billion.

Added to that figure is an additional €5.5 billion from a fund earmarked for refugees that went unspent, making a total surplus of €19 billion.

In contrast the US budget deficit topped $1 trillion in 2019.

Read more at: Germany posts record-breaking budget surplus | News | DW | 13.01.2020

Suriname: Total and Apache tout ‘significant’ oil find in Suriname waters - by Myles McCormick and David Sheppard

Oil producers Total and Apache announced a “significant oil discovery” on Tuesday that they said proves oil-rich rock formations off the coast of Guyana cross into Suriname waters, where they are exploring.

The companies heralded the potential for “prolific” oil production after drilling work at the Maka Central-1 well off the coast of the South American nation showed that the neighbouring Guyanese Cretaceous oil play — in which rival ExxonMobil has discovered billions of barrels equivalent of recoverable oil and gas — extends into local waters.

The two companies each own a 50 per cent stake in ‘Block 58’ where the well was drilled, after Total bought into it last month. Shares in Apache rose 20 per cent on the news to their highest level since May last year. Total shares were unmoved.

Read more at: Total and Apache tout ‘significant’ oil find in Suriname waters | Financial Times

France Rejects 11-Month Deadline UK Sets on EU Trade Talks | Voice of America - English

France made it clear Friday that it does not want to be shackled to the tight deadline British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is seeking to impose for the upcoming free trade talks between Britain and the European Union.

Read more at: France Rejects 11-Month Deadline UK Sets on EU Trade Talks | Voice of America - English

Lebanon: 'We are in a dark tunnel': Lebanese fear economic collapse more than the Iran-U.S. conflict

Lebanon has too much history perched on the edge of wider regional conflicts to be too rattled by fears of another one between the U.S. and Iran. As Margaret Evans reports, what people fear most is an economic collapse.

Insure-Digest

EU Energy Supply: Russia and Turkey turn on EU gas pipeline

Russia and Turkey have turned on a new gas pipeline to the EU, continuing efforts to lock in Russia's best customer.

The TurkStream pipeline launch was "a very important event not only for Russia and Turkey, but also for the states of southern Europe, for the entire European continent", Russian president Vladimir Putin told press at a ceremony in Istanbul on Wednesday (8 January).

And European countries were "already expressing very great interest" in buying the gas, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Putin praised the pipeline as a feat of modern engineering.

"It is a high-tech project because the gas pipeline runs at tremendous depth, as well as in a very hostile environment," he said.

Erdogan said its symbolism recalled "Ottoman times", when tsars and sultans first built relations 500 years ago.

Read more  at: Russia and Turkey turn on EU gas pipeline

EU Green Transition: EU's green transition 'will have slightly positive economic effect'

EU's move towards a carbon-neutral economy to tackle climate change will have a "slightly positive" economic effect, it's been claimed.

Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU's economy commissioner, speaking to Euronews in Berlin, admitted the green transition would have winners and losers but that it should be done in a "socially acceptable way".

EU countries reached a deal last month on making the bloc climate neutral by 2050

Read more: The Brief: EU's green transition 'will have slightly positive economic effect' | Euronews

The Netherlands: New record: Over 2 million businesses in Netherlands = total population 17.18 million people

On January 1st there were 2,000,404 businesses in the Netherlands - the first time ever this counter topped 2 million, according to figures from the Dutch chamber of commerce KvK. The number of companies in the Netherlands  ncreased by almost 100 thousand last year, an increase of 5 percent, NOS reports.

A total of 230 thousand new businesses opened in the Netherlands in 2019, and 131 thousand closed or went bankrupt, which means that on
balance almost 100 thousand companies were added to the country.

The sectors that attracted the most new businesses were construction, health, retail, hospitality, and logistics. The most new companies opened in Flevoland, Zuid-Holland, and Noord-Holland, the least in Limburg.

The proportion of entrepreneurs who were not born in the Netherlands increased by one percent to 16 percent. Almost a quarter of entrepreneurs who opened a business last year were not born in the Netherlands. These entrepreneurs largely work in hospitality, logistics and construction. Many migrant-entrepreneurs are active in the provinces of Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, and Flevoland.

The average age of entrepreneurs in the Netherlands is around 46 years and has been stable for years. But the average age of starting entrepreneurs decreased slightly, from 36 years in 2018 to 35 years in
2019.

This is partly due to the large number of teenagers, up to the age of 18, among new freelancers - self-employed with no employees. In 2015 there were 1,944 such young freelancers. Five years later that number rose to 6,572.

"More and more young people do not stock shelves or deliver newspapers, but start their own business", Gerdine Annaars, advisor for enterprising young people at the KvK, said to NOS. "A nice and educational way to earn a little extra and a good run-up to a real company."

Two thirds of entrepreneurs in the Netherlands are men, a proportion that hasn't changed in recent years. The proportion of women among starting entrepreneurs decreased slightly last year, from 38 percent in 2018 to 37 percent in 2019. A massive 80 percent of teenagers starting a business were men last year.

Total population of the Netherlands re 2018 census - 17.18 million people

New record: Over 2 million businesses in Netherlands | NL Times

1/7/20 The Netherlands: New record: Over 2 million businesses in Netherlands = total population 17.18 million people

On January 1st there were 2,000,404 businesses in the Netherlands - the first time ever this counter topped 2 million, according to figures from the Dutch chamber of commerce KvK. The number of companies in the Netherlands increased by almost 100 thousand last year, an increase of 5 percent, NOS reports.

A total of 230 thousand new businesses opened in the Netherlands in 2019, and 131 thousand closed or went bankrupt, which means that on balance almost 100 thousand companies were added to the country.

The sectors that attracted the most new businesses were construction, health, retail, hospitality, and logistics. The most new companies opened in Flevoland, Zuid-Holland, and Noord-Holland, the least in Limburg.

The proportion of entrepreneurs who were not born in the Netherlands increased by one percent to 16 percent. Almost a quarter of entrepreneurs who opened a business last year were not born in the Netherlands. These entrepreneurs largely work in hospitality, logistics and construction. Many migrant-entrepreneurs are active in the provinces of Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, and Flevoland.

The average age of entrepreneurs in the Netherlands is around 46 years and has been stable for years. But the average age of starting entrepreneurs decreased slightly, from 36 years in 2018 to 35 years in 2019.

This is partly due to the large number of teenagers, up to the age of 18, among new freelancers - self-employed with no employees. In 2015 there were 1,944 such young freelancers. Five years later that number rose to 6,572.

"More and more young people do not stock shelves or deliver newspapers, but start their own business", Gerdine Annaars, advisor for enterprising young people at the KvK, said to NOS. "A nice and educational way to earn a little extra and a good run-up to a real company."

Two thirds of entrepreneurs in the Netherlands are men, a proportion that hasn't changed in recent years. The proportion of women among starting entrepreneurs decreased slightly last year, from 38 percent in 2018 to 37 percent in 2019. A massive 80 percent of teenagers starting a business were men last year.

Total population of the Netherlands re 2018 census - 17.18 million people

Read more: New record: Over 2 million businesses in Netherlands | NL Times

USA: 10 tech predictions for 2020: Apple, Tesla, Netflix and more

Daniel Newman peers into what this year will bring 

Read more at:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/10-tech-predictions-for-2020-apple-tesla-netflix-and-more-2020-01-06

USA: Stocks could see a double-digit drop in the coming months, warns Wells Fargo

Read full report at: 
Stocks could see a double-digit drop in the coming months, warns Wells Fargo - MarketWatch

North American markets end best year since 2013 thanks to big gains in tech stocks | CBC News

The economic forecast for 2020 looks good as stock markets closed out their best year since 2013, led by huge gains in technology stocks.

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/markets-year-to-date-1.5411932

Iran-US Relations: Is the US On the Verge of a War with Iran?

Trump: we will help Saudi Arabia
in their struggle against Iran

"The main question is not whether Soleimani is responsible for carnage in the region (he is) or whether he has blood on his hands (he does), but whether Soleimani’s assassination increases or decreases the risk of a wider conflict between Washington and Tehran. Does this strike put American soldiers, diplomats, and citizens in the region at risk?"

The answers are as obvious as the day is long. The strike on Soleimani is a gigantic leap forward on the escalation ladder, a move so dramatic that Iran will be forced to respond. And it will do so at a time and place of its choosing. The 60,000-70,000 U.S. military forces in the Middle East are now all potential targets of Iranian retaliation, the extent to which Washington can’t fully estimate. The State Department’s travel advisory urging all U.S. citizens to leave Iraq immediately is an indication that the Trump administration recognizes that Americans on Iraqi soil could very well be sitting ducks for some kind of violent response.

Note EU-Digest: The Washington Post  reported that several European diplomats said Friday that they were not aware of any warning from Washington ahead of the strike on Soleimani in Baghdad, though the mission was almost certain to increase the security risk for hundreds of European troops and for other European citizens in the region.The Netherlands government advised all its citizens in Iraq to leave the country.Once again as he did with pulling troops out of Syria it shows he does not have any respect for his Allies and the lives of their troops, who have always supported the US, and put their lives at risk. it is high time the EU tells the US Trump Administration that " the party is over", and that they should start fighting their own ridiculous wars around the world. 

Read more at: Are We On the Verge of a War with Iran? | The National Interest

EU in Defense mode on Trade: In Trade War, EU Is Force to Be Reckoned With-Netherlands Warns

The European Union will act as one if the U.S hits France with tariffs and must stop being naive with powers like China, the Dutch Finance Minister warned.

Adding to growing calls for the bloc to do more to boost its economic sovereignty, Wopke Hoekstra said in an interview that the EU shouldn’t sit idly as countries like China subsidize their companies, or Donald Trump’s administration turns against its member states.

Faced with a global stage that’s increasingly dominated by the U.S. and China, the EU has come under pressure from some members to ensure a level playing field for its companies so that they can better compete with rivals that receive a helping hand from their governments.

“It is simply unacceptable that we are playing by the rules and some others just do whatever they like and by state support have the ability to outcompete some of our companies,” Hoekstra said recently.

“If we lookat the airline industry it’s bizarre that a great company like Air France-KLM is competing in a completely unlevel playing field with some of the carriers from outside the EU.”

His comments follow a recent initiative by the Netherlands calling on the EU to overhaul its competition framework by granting the European Commission powers to perform checks on companies that could potentially distort markets.

The Dutch push comes as a new executive has just taken the EU’s helm in Brussels and as the issue of protecting the region’s industry is gaining more prominence amid the rise of economic nationalism across the world, including with Trump’s America first policies in the U.S.

Read more at: In Trade War, EU Is Force to Be Reckoned With, Netherlands Warns - Bloomberg

Middle East: U.S. troops in Syria heading to Iraq, not home as Trump claims

U.S. President Donald Trump insists he's bringing home Americans from "endless wars" in the Mideast, but his Pentagon chief says all U.S. troops leaving Syria will go to western Iraq, and the U.S. military will continue operations against ISIS.

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/u-s-troops-syria-heading-to-iraq-1.5328549