EU willing to improve Irish border proposal
Michel Barnier has said the European Union is willing to improve its proposal on avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland after Brexit. But the chief Brexit negotiator stopped short of accepting British ideas for compromise according to The Guardian. Speaking after a meeting with the EU’s 27 European affairs ministers in Brussels, Barnier said that October’s European Council “will be the moment of truth” regarding a Brexit agreement. He said that the EU respects “the territorial integrity of the UK and we respect the conditional order of the UK” on the Irish border issue, but added that the problem was caused by “the UK’s decision to leave the EU, its single market and the customs union.”
Korean progress
South Korean president Moon Jae-in and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-un announced a series of agreements at a press conference in Pyongyang early on Wednesday. Moon claimed that North Korea has agreed to shut down key missile test facilities and also its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, if the United States makes reciprocal measures says The Guardian. An agreement was also reached to connect two rail lines between the countries. Kim has also said he will visit Seoul in the near future. Moon said that the agreements will make the Korean peninsula a “land of peace without nuclear weapons and nuclear threats.”
Tesla fraud investigation
According to Bloomberg the US justice department has opened a fraud investigation over CEO Elon Musk’s now infamous tweets regarding taking the company private. Securities regulators had already launched an enquiry into the tweet, in which Musk claimed he had “funding secured” for the deal, after it initially sent the company’s shares higher. News of the criminal investigation caused Tesla shares to fall again on Tuesday. They are down around 7.7% in 2018 Bloomberg says.
Trade war: China retaliates, India defers
Saying it had “no choice” but to retaliate to the latest round of tariffs imposed by the United States, China’s ministry of commerce has announced levies of between 5 and 10% on with some 5,207 products made in the USA. The goods are worth $60 billion and the tariffs will be imposed starting 24 September, the same day as the US is scheduled to begin its new tariffs, according to Business Insider. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that India has deferred the imposition of retaliatory tariffs for a second time in order to avoid a trade war with the United States.
Ireland collects Apple taxes
The Guardian reports that the Irish government has now fully collected €13.1bn in back taxes, plus €1.2bn interest, from tech giant Apple. The European Commission had ruled in 2016 that the company had received unfair tax advantages--a decision that the Irish government is appealing. The collected taxes are being held in an escrow fund pending that appeal.
Spain rejects extradition of HSBC whistleblower
HSBC whistleblower Herve Falciani will not be extradited from Spain to Switzerland following a ruling by the Spanish high court on Tuesday, says Reuters. In 2008 Falciani, a French citizen, leaked details of thousands of clients of HSBC’s private bank, triggering tax evasion investigations in several countries. He has been sentenced, in absentia, to 5 years in prison by Swiss courts.
UK based car makers take Brexit decisions
BMW and Jaguar both announced moves to lessen the impact of Brexit at their UK plants on Tuesday. The Guardian reports that BMW is moving annual maintenance work and shutting down its Mini site in Cowley, Oxford, in the weeks immediately following Brexit next year to limit the effect of disruption to its supply chain. Jaguar announced that workers at its Castle Bromwich site in the midlands would be limited to a 3-day week until Christmas, though it cited slumping sales of diesel-powered cars alongside Brexit uncertainty as a reason for the decision.
Bert and Ernie not gay
An interview with a former Sesame Street writer has forced the show’s producers to reiterate their position that two of its most enduring characters, Bert and Ernie, are not gay. The Guardian cites a statement from Sesame Workshop saying that the characters “were created to teach pre-schoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves” and that while they are identified as male “they remain puppets and do not have a sexual orientation.”
Today's breakfast briefing was written by Duncan Roberts