Cuba, China, Cohen, California

Marc Ross Daily
February 21, 2019
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross

Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia 

Marc Ross Daily  = News + Analysis at the Intersection of Globalization + Disruption + Politics

TOP FIVE

✔️ US, China sketch outlines of deal to end trade war

✔️ Four-day week: Trial finds lower stress and increased productivity

✔️ DOJ preparing for Mueller report in coming days

✔️ Vox Media is expanding tie-in with podcast company Stitcher

✔️ Samsung unveils foldable and 5G phones

ROSS RANT

"Hollywood is now irrelevant. Netflix has won this game. No one can get, I believe, to their level of subscribers, which gives them real dominance." -- Barry Diller
 

GLOBALIZATION

Reuters: Cuba denies military in Venezuela, charges US readies intervention

Three pro-EU Tory MPs defect to independent parliamentary group: FT reports, move by Europhiles is a big setback for Theresa May and her Brexit policy.

FT - Editorial: Honda sounds a further Brexit warning to Britain: Leaving the EU will imperil decades of success in UK carmaking. 

Soft China deadline: March 1 is supposed to be the end of the new-tariff truce between the US and China, but Trump now says it is "not a magical date," suggesting it isn't much of a deadline after all—even though USTR Lighthizer has characterized it as a "hard deadline." 

US, China sketch outlines of deal to end trade war: Reuters reports, the United States and China have started to outline commitments in principle on the stickiest issues in their trade dispute, marking the most significant progress yet toward ending a seven-month trade war, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

Bloomberg: US, China are working on multiple memorandums for trade deal

"The MoUs would cover areas including agriculture, non-tariff barriers, services, technology transfer and intellectual property."

The US and China fear their leaders will cave in on trade: WSJ reports, despite their sharp differences in style, background and policies, Xi Jinping and Trump share a common problem: growing concerns on the home front that they are going to cave in to the other side.

Janan Ganesh: US shift to Asia is more than a short-term pivot: Trump is the third president in a row to focus on the world’s largest continent.

Manila warns of China threat after US nuclear pact exit: FT reports, defense minister reflects regional fears over balancing Beijing and Washington links.

DISRUPTION

Four-day week: Trial finds lower stress and increased productivity: Guardian reports, the study of pilot at New Zealand firm finds staff were happier and 20% more productive.

Designers in demand like never before: In 2012, IBM employed one designer for every 72 engineers. Today, IBM has eight engineers to every designer, and that ratio goes to 3:1 on mobile.

POLITICS

Justice Department preparing for Mueller report in coming days: WP reports, with dwindling personnel, the special counsel appeared to be close to ending his investigation of the president and alleged Russian election interference.

Michael Cohen, a former lawyer for Trump, agreed to go before the House Oversight Committee for an open hearing on February 27.

Trump officially organizes the Space Force under the Air Force ... for now: Defense News reports, Trump on Tuesday signed a directive centralizing all military space functions under a new Space Force, which will be overseen by the Department of the Air Force. 

LAT: Bowing to Congress, Trump scales back proposed 'space force'

"The scaled-down plan would still establish a new military service focused on war-fighting in outer space — the first new branch since 1947 — with a four-star commander who would become a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

@kaylatausche: NEW: House Ways & Means to hold China trade hearing next Wednesday, Feb. 27. Amb. Lighthizer is the only witness.

Possible O'Rourke White House bid spurs action to mobilize students: Reuters reports, a Democratic group seeking to persuade former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke to run for president will launch mobilization efforts on college campuses nationwide to coincide with what they believe will be his entry into the race by month's end.

Your phone and TV are tracking you, and political campaigns are listening in: LAT reports, welcome to the new frontier of campaign tech — a loosely regulated world in which simply downloading a weather app or game, connecting to Wi-Fi at a coffee shop or powering up a home router can allow a data broker to monitor your movements with ease, then compile the location information and sell it to a political candidate who can use it to surround you with messages.

COMMERCE

Hyatt is making a dramatic push into the wellness segment. The company is increasingly focused on tapping into a quickly growing segment at the intersection of tourism and everyday life by developing offerings for its employees to maintain their well-being and for its customers to be able to continue their wellness and mindfulness practices from the comfort of Hyatt’s hotel rooms.

American Airlines is offering helicopter rides to the airport and private lounges in Los Angeles and New York for super VIPs.

Honda says up to 7,000 jobs at risk from closure of UK plant: FT reports, carmaker says electric cars and small size of Europe market responsible for shutdown.

Ford is shuttering a factory in Brazil that it's operated for more than half a century. The closure of the Sao Bernardo do Campo plant, which involves the loss of 2,800 jobs.

How Huawei lost its PR battle in the west: Foreign advisers say they were ignored and undermined by Chinese management. https://on.ft.com/2SVvtrG

Google will next month launch a game-streaming service to rival those from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.

Tesla will have all of its self-driving car tech ready to roll by the end of the year, Elon Musk said.

Vox Media is expanding its tie-in with podcast company Stitcher to launch a new tech news podcast as part of a multimillion-dollar deal.

THR: Amazon chief unveils plan to battle Netflix: 30 films per year

Lyft is preparing to list shares on the Nasdaq around the end of March.

Samsung's new Phone Folds in Half and Costs Nearly $2,000.

Nikkei: Samsung unveils foldable and 5G phones days ahead of Huawei

Nike takes a beating after Zion Williamson’s shoe explodes: WP reports, unfortunately for Williamson and college basketball fans everywhere — and very unfortunately for Nike — Williamson didn’t last long against the Tar Heels, because he was forced from the game in the first minute with a knee injury. The mishap occurred as the 285-pound forward was planting his left foot to pivot — and his shoe exploded.

CULTURE

Laurene Powell Jobs is investing in Reese Witherspoon’s production company, marking her latest push into entertainment. Powell Jobs’s Emerson Collective is joining AT&T Inc.’s Otter Media, an earlier backer, in financing Witherspoon’s company, Hello Sunshine.

California’s winter: Storms have dumped an estimated 18 trillion gallons of rain — nearly half the volume of Lake Tahoe — in February alone.

Who killed Tulum? Greed, gringos, diesel, drugs, shamans, seaweed, and a disco ball in the jungle. http://bit.ly/2SRMT8e