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1. The U.S.’s historic economic expansion has so enriched one-percenters they now hold almost as much wealth as the middle- and upper-middle classes combined. The top 1% of American households have enjoyed huge returns in the stock market in the past decade, to the point that they now control more than half of the equity in U.S. public and private companies, according to data from the Federal Reserve. Those fat portfolios have America’s elite gobbling up an ever-bigger piece of the pie. The very richest had assets of about $35.4 trillion in the second quarter, or just shy of the $36.9 trillion held by the tens of millions of people who make up the 50th percentile to the 90th percentile of Americans -- much of the middle and upper-middle classes. (via Bloomberg News)
2. Technology giants and other large multinationals could soon face a global minimum level of corporate taxation under new proposals from the OECD, even if they have successfully and legally shielded their profits in tax havens. The Paris-based organization called on Friday for the introduction of a safety net to enable home countries to ensure their multinationals cannot escape taxation, even if other countries have offered them extremely low tax rates. (via Financial Times)
3. India's Supreme Court has ruled that India’s most hotly contested piece of religious land rightfully belongs to Hindus, with judges granting permission for a temple to be built on the site in Ayodhya. In their unanimous and historic judgement, the five supreme court judges stated that the site rightfully belonged to Hindus, based upon the claim it is the birthplace of their god Ram. In their statement the judges ruled a mosque that had stood on the site since the 16th century, and was the basis of the Muslim claim to Ayodhya, was “not built on vacant land” and that the Hindu belief that this site was where Lord Ram was born could not be disputed. The judges declared that a separate “prominent” five-acre piece of land would be allocated to the Muslim community to build a mosque near the contested site. (via The Guardian, thehindu.com)
4. Germany today marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall that separated East and West Germany, with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier thanking Eastern European neighbours for enabling a peaceful revolution. The toppling of the wall, which had divided the Communist-ruled East and the capitalist West in Berlin for nearly three decades and became a potent symbol of the Cold War, was followed a year later by the reunification of Germany in 1990. “Together with our friends, we remember with deep gratitude the events 30 years ago,” Steinmeier said during a ceremony at the Bernauer Strasse Berlin Wall Memorial, which was also attended by Chancellor Angela Merkel and heads of state from Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. (via Reuters)
5. Former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, in an interview with Der Spiegel, published yesterday, reflected on the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany: "My view of German unity is the same today as it was back then. Unification was one of the most important things I've ever done. It had a huge impact on many people's lives. I appreciate this day very much and I have great admiration for every person who was involved." In 2009, at an event marking the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Wall and German reunification, former US President George H.W. Bush said of Mr. Gorbachev: “I have no doubt, zero, that historians will recognize Mikhail for his rare vision and unfailing commitment to reform and openness despite the efforts of those who would resist change and ignore the call of history...Today we have a fuller appreciation of the tremendous pressure Mikhail faced in that pivotal time. And through it all he stood firm, which is why he’ll also stand tall when the history of our time in office is finally written.” (via The New York Times, Der Spiegel, Reuters)
6. Spain’s acting prime minister yesterday pleaded for a chance to lead his country out of political paralysis before tomorrow’s increasingly tense general election. Pedro Sánchez warned of the dangers posed by political polarization and a rising far right. He also expressed his frustration as polls suggested that once again no single party would secure a majority in the 350-seat national assembly. The deadlock has compounded one of Spain’s worst crises for decades, with the country going to the polls for the fourth time in four years. (via Times of London)
7. Spain's repeat election provides an unexpectedly early opportunity for right-wing parties to benefit from the bickering among left-wing politicians. One of the parties most likely to reap such gains is the anti-migration and ultranationalist Vox party, which entered Parliament after winning 10 percent of the vote in the last election, in April. Writing in El Confidencial, Ignacio Varela, a columnist, warned that the new election was likely to result in a lower turnout, more deadlock and more extremism. “Right now,” he wrote, “the only party that has reasons to celebrate is Vox.” (via The New York Times, Google Translate for Mr. Varela's column)
8. Moody’s Investors Service lowered its outlook on the U.K.’s debt rating, saying the country’s handling of Brexit has shown its once robust public institutions are at risk of losing their predictability and cohesiveness. The ratings company cited the “increasing inertia and, at times, paralysis that has characterized the Brexit-era policy-making process” in stamping a negative outlook on the country’s rating. A move such as this can be a precursor to an official ratings downgrade. The U.K. Treasury declined to comment after the Moody’s announcement. During the election campaign, government departments are restricted from making public statements. (via The Wall Street Journal)
9. Boris Johnson has sparked a furious reaction from campaigners who want to keep the UK in the EU after he claimed that his Brexit plan gave Northern Ireland “a great deal” because the region would continue to enjoy free movement and access to the bloc’s single market. The prime minister’s critics were quick to attack his comments, captured on video on Thursday night, since his Brexit plan would end free movement and free single market access for the rest of the UK. (via Financial Times)
10. President Trump on Friday disputed China’s assertion that the two countries had agreed to roll back tariffs as part of an interim trade accord, but he also said progress was being made toward resolving the long-running trade war. “I haven’t agreed to anything,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “But we’re getting along very well with China. They want to make a deal. Frankly, they want to make a deal a lot more than I do.” (via The Wall Street Journal)
11. China’s top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs said Beijing will ensure only people loyal to it become the city’s chief executive, damping hopes of pro-democracy activists. The majority of representatives in Hong Kong’s cabinet, judiciary and legislative bodies should also support the central government, Zhang Xiaoming said in a post on the agency’s website. He said the city’s inability to implement Article 23 -- a law that prohibits acts of treason and subversion against the Chinese government -- and its failure to set up units to follow through were the main reasons separatist movements are on the rise. (via Bloomberg News)
12. Seven Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers were either arrested or received notice of pending arrest in an action criticized as a government clampdown on the opposition ahead of local elections scheduled later this month. Lawmakers Eddie Chu Hoi-dick, Raymond Chan Chi-chuen and Au Nok-hin were charged for breaching the Legislative Council Ordinance, Hong Kong police said on Saturday. (via The Wall Street Journal)
13. A doubling of pork prices last month sent Chinese consumer inflation to its highest level in nearly eight years, constraining Beijing’s ability to stimulate the economy as growth continues to slow. China’s consumer-price index rose 3.8% in October from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Saturday—higher than a median forecast of 3.5% by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal, and far outpacing September’s 3.0% reading. As it has all year, October’s jump in consumer inflation was fueled by a rise in hog prices, the fastest on record, amid an outbreak of the deadly African swine fever. (via The Wall Street Journal)
14. Michael R. Bloomberg disrupted the Democratic presidential field on Friday as he took his first steps into the 2020 race, unnerving supporters of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and prompting Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders to accuse Mr. Bloomberg of seeking to buy the presidency. But Mr. Bloomberg’s early moves also signaled he would be approaching the campaign in an unconventional manner: In a dramatic acknowledgment of his own late start in the race, Mr. Bloomberg and his advisers have decided that he would pursue a risky strategy of skipping all four traditional early-state contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, and focus instead on big states that hold primaries soon afterward. (via The New York Times)
15. John R. Bolton, President Trump’s former national security adviser, knows about “many relevant meetings and conversations” connected to the Ukraine pressure campaign that House impeachment investigators have not yet been informed about, his lawyer told lawmakers on Friday. The lawyer, Charles J. Cooper, made that tantalizing point in a letter to the chief House lawyer in response to House committee chairmen who have sought Mr. Bolton’s testimony in their impeachment proceedings, arguing that his client would be willing to talk but only if a court rules that he should ignore White House objections. (via The New York Times)
16. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he was considering attending Russia’s May 9 Victory Day commemorative events after President Vladimir Putin extended an invitation. “I appreciate the invitation. It is right in the middle of political season, so I’ll see if I can do it, but I would love to go if I could,” Trump told reporters before departing the White House for campaign-related events. Mr. Putin presides over an annual parade to commemorate the Soviet Union’s World War Two victory over Nazi Germany, but the Kremlin has said next year’s 75th anniversary would be marked with great pomp. (via Reuters)
17. In what may be a watershed moment in the fight against tuberculosis, the world’s most lethal infectious disease, an experimental new vaccine has protected about half the people who got it, scientists reported on Tuesday. While a 50 percent success rate is hardly ideal — the measles vaccine, by contrast, is about 98 percent protective — about 10 million people get tuberculosis each year, and 1.6 million die of it. Even a partly effective vaccine may save millions of lives. (via The New York Times)
18. The United Nations warned that a locust swarm in Ethiopia is becoming an ever-more serious danger. Despite efforts to contain them, locusts have devoured all the crops on some of the farms that they have attacked. As more of their eggs hatch, the UN warned that the swarms might soon reach Eritrea, Kenya and Sudan. (via Economist Espresso)
19. McKinsey & Company, the elite consulting firm that advises many of the world’s largest and most powerful institutions, is facing a federal criminal investigation of its conduct advising bankrupt companies, according to five people familiar with the matter. Prosecutors and other Justice Department officials in New York and Washington are trying to determine if McKinsey used its influence over insolvent companies in violation of the rules of Chapter 11 bankruptcy — where billions of dollars can change hands — by quietly steering valuable assets to itself or favoring its own clients over other creditors. (via The New York Times)
20. Japanese women on social media are demanding the right to wear glasses to work, after reports that employers were imposing bans. In the latest protest against rigid rules over women’s appearance, the hashtag “glasses are forbidden” was trending on Twitter in reaction to a Japanese television show that exposed businesses that were imposing the bans on female staff. “These are rules that are out of date,” one Twitter user said, while another described the reasons given by employers as “idiotic.” (via The Guardian)
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