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Trade tensions are dampening the world’s economy, says the IMF’s chief economist, Maurice Obstfeld. Photo credit: International Monetary Fund 

Trade tensions slowing economic growth: IMF

The IMF has cut its global growth forecast for this year and next, and warned that the escalating trade war between the US and China could dampen it further. Global GDP is expected to grow 3.7% in 2018 and 2019, which is 0.2% less than forecast in April. The IMF’s chief economist, Maurice Obstfeld, said: “Trade policy reflects politics and politics remain unsettled in several countries, posing further risks.” Details from the AFP, BBC and CNBC.

Climate change and innovation: Nobel economics prize

William Nordhaus and Paul Romer, both American, received the Nobel prize for economics, for separate work that had environmental implications. Romer was honored for his research on “endogenous growth models”, which examined how innovation drives economic growth. Nordhaus studied the economic cost of climate change, one of the first to argue for the implementing of a carbon tax. More from the Economist, Financial Times and Science magazine.

Google+ to close after data breach revealed

Google said it was shutting down its Google+ social networking site for consumers after admitting a bug potentially exposed user data to external software developers. Google said it found no evidence that developers had actually accessed the data. While the vulnerability was discovered in the spring, the company did not make it public to avoid a PR and political firestorm. Google had once hoped that Google+ would rival Facebook, but it only attracted a fraction of the users. The tech firm will continue to provide Google+ to companies. First reported by the Wall Street Journal and also reported by Engadget, the Financial Times and Guardian.

Czechs join EU digital tax opposition

The Czech Republic has come out against a proposed EU turnover tax on big internet firms, according to Reuters. Luxembourg, Ireland, Finland and Sweden have argued that digital taxation should be addressed at a global level. France is pushing for the 3% digital services tax on companies such as Facebook and Google, saying they need to pay their fair share.

Bosnia: Nationalist wins place on tripartite presidency

Milorad Dodik, a Serb nationalist, has won a seat on Bosnia-Herzegovina’s three member presidency, reported BuzzFeed News, DW and Reuters.

Germany: Newcomers classes “not working”

Exberliner says that Germany’s mandatory integration courses are failing refugees.

Get behind the wheel

The NHTSA, a US regulator, published voluntary guidelines for manufacturing self-driving cars without a steering wheel. Details from IEEE Spectrum.

Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Aaron Grunwald