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Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, are seen during a press conference in Ottawa, 7 June 2018. Photo credit: Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada 

Macron “will resist hegemony” at G7 summit with Trump

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has said the other members of the G7 should stand firm against Donald Trump’s trade policies at the G7 summit to be held in Quebec on Friday. Speaking at a press conference with Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, Macron said the US was drifting towards “further isolationism” and “crude hegemony”, according to the Guardian. Trump tweeted in reply: “Look forward to seeing them tomorrow.”

EU migration agency chief resigns

José Carreira, head of the European Asylum Support Office, has “quit in the face of internal disputes and a probe by Brussels’ Olaf anti-fraud agency into allegations of procurement rule breaches,” reported the Financial Times. Carreira’s resignation follows an inconclusive meeting of EU leaders earlier this week on how to break the bloc’s migration impasse.

Is “glen” automatically “Scotch”?

The EU’s top court has ruled that the brand name “Glen Buchenbach” used by distillery in southwestern Germany could conceivably run afoul of European labelling rules, as reported by DW and the Reuters news agency. The Scotch Whisky Association has argued that use of the word “glen” implies that the whisky is Scotch. (Scotch whisky is a geographically protected designation, but “glen” is not specifically restricted.) The European Court of Justice, in Kirchberg, said a Hamburg tribunal would have to decide if the average consumer would be deceived.

Tax compliance in Chinese entertainment sector

China has started a tax probe into the country’s film industry, reported the Economist. Officials are examining the use of so-called “ying and yang contracts”, when a lower salary is declared for tax purposes but a higher salary is actually paid, and the abuse of corporate tax breaks for companies registered in China’s far west and in Tibet.

Humans still needed

Worried about robots taking over the world? According to MIT Technology Review, Amazon’s warehouse robots have been foiled by… popcorn butter.

Today’s breakfast briefing was written by @aarongrunwald.