Good morning,
These are the top stories:
Mexico's new president-elect vows to preserve NAFTA
Mexico’s leftist president-elect wants to renegotiate NAFTA and avoid a trade war with the U.S. , keeping the pact as a bilateral agreement if the U.S. President Donald Trump pulls out.
After Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s overwhelming election victory Sunday, he reassured businesses and his country’s trading partners that he is committed to the trilateral agreement and to trying to get along with Trump (for subscribers).
Mexico’s chief NAFTA negotiator, Jesus Seade Kuri, said there will be no change in Mexico’s approach to the negotiations under Lopez Obrador’s new government. The president will stick with the current centrist administration’s negotiating positions, which mostly consist of trying to preserve as much of the open market as possible in the face of the Trump administration’s protectionist demands (for subscribers).
Trump, meanwhile, is again floating the possibility of cutting separate deals with Canada and Mexico. Although the three sides are set to resume negotiations this month, Trump intends to delay signing a deal until after U.S. congressional elections in November.
Some argue Canada needs a ‘Plan C’ for NAFTA talks: “Much of the talk in Canada has been about the need for a “Plan B” in the event of termination of the North American free-trade agreement by the United States. What may be more urgent is a “Plan C” to offset this uncertainty and its negative consequences for business investment in Canada during an interminable NAFTA renegotiation.“ (for subscribers)
For a recap on the NAFTA saga so far, read our guide to trade, the talks and Trump.
This is the daily Morning Update newsletter. If you’re reading this on the web, or if someone forwarded this e-mail to you, you can sign up for Morning Update and all Globe newsletters here.
Complainant urges Galloway to grant access to unredacted probe report
A former creative-writing student at the University of British Columbia who was the main complainant (MC) in the Steven Galloway case is calling on Galloway to let UBC give her information and for legislative changes.
The firing of Galloway as head of the program has generated a tremendous amount of attention and controversy, including media coverage of the report written by an independent investigator UBC appointed. MC and her lawyer are questioning the fairness of a system that has forced her to fight for unredacted access to the report. They argue Galloway could have consented to the release of the unredacted report to MC.
But Galloway says that, after enduring nearly three years of the repercussions from the allegations against him, he has no intention of waiving any rights the law provides him – and says at no point did he “stand as an obstacle” to MC’s “exercising the access rights provided her at law, nor did he stand as an obstacle to her receiving and reading the Report,” according to a statement from his lawyer.
Italy’s new strongman, Deputy PM Matteo Salvini, rattles Europe and his own government
Only a month into the job, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has emerged as Italy’s dominant politician. He is also the Interior Minister and leader of the right-wing, Euroskeptic and xenophobic League – a party that forms half the coalition government, the other half being the anti-establishment Five Star Movement.
Brimming with Euroskeptic views, Salvini , 45, has also become known as a bad boy of the European political scene. And he may just be getting started. His popularity ratings are climbing and there is little doubt he could win the next election, which may come early if he decides to capitalize with ruthless zeal on his newfound fame.
European bureau chief Eric Reguly analyzes Salvini’s popularity and politics – and what it means for Italy and Europe.
Missing boys, coach found alive in Thailand cave − but extricating them will be difficult
After 10 days trapped in a flooded cave in northern Thailand, the missing 12 boys and their soccer coach were finally found in Tham Luang Cave.
In a brief video filmed by a diver, the boys and their coach seemed in good condition. Some boys sat and some stood as they spoke with the diver. Food was foremost on their minds. “Eat, eat, eat,” one of the boys can be heard saying in English.
The next challenge will be getting the soccer team out of the flooded cave in their weakened condition and without training as scuba divers. The boys range in age from 11 to 16, and their coach is 25.
The group had been the focus of a search-and-rescue operation ever since the boys and their coach went into the popular cave complex after soccer practice on June 23 and were caught inside by rising flood waters.
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Roger Federer drops Nike in favour of Uniqlo
Tennis star Roger Federer stepped out at Wimbledon on Monday in Uniqlo, shedding a decades-old Nike partnership. Federer said he was “excited” at being sponsored by the Japanese casual wear designer. However, some ties to Nike remain. The apparel and equipment giant owns the rights to the iconic RF logo, but not for long, and Federer is still wearing the swoosh-marked footwear on Monday, since Uniqlo does not manufacture shoes. While no financial details were revealed, media reported the new deal will be worth around $30-million a year, compared with the $10-million a year agreement Federer had with Nike.
MORNING MARKETS
Stocks mixed
Global stocks rose on Tuesday, supported by gains in Europe and three straight days of tech-driven rises in the United States, even though markets across Asia and especially China remained in the grip of trade turbulence. Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.1 per cent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 1.4 per cent, though the Shanghai Composite gained 0.4 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were down by between 0.3 and 1 per cent by about 5:35 a.m. ET. New York futures were up. The Canadian dollar is hovering at just about 76 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Trump’s oil tweet exposed his lack of dominance
“Trump’s Saturday morning tweet announcing Saudi Arabia would be raising oil output by two million barrels a day surprised everyone, not least Saudi Arabia’s leadership and the president’s own staff. The subsequent walk-back was a hurried, stumbling affair. And the damage was done anyway. Because, really, nothing says “energy dominance” quite like pretending on social media that an ally will boost their oil production in order to head off the domestic costs of one’s own foreign policy.“ – Liam Denning, a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy, mining and commodities.
Canada needs a ‘Plan C’ for NAFTA talks
“The NAFTA negotiations drag on, enlivened by periodic threats from the United States of new tariffs or termination, or demands for sunset provisions, and confronted by elections in Mexico and the United States. What appears to be gridlock, however, may actually be a deliberate strategy by the United States to make investor uncertainty a new weapon in the U.S. trade arsenal.” – Don Campbell and Kevin Lynch. Campbell is an Advisor, DLAPiper, and a former Deputy Minister of Trade. Lynch is Vice Chair, BMO Financial Group, and a former Clerk of the Privy Council (for subscribers).
America’s treatment of migrants is sending the country back to the dark ages
“Not since the reviled policies of previous centuries of American history – the separation of slave families, the national origins quota determining visa allocation, the wartime internment of residents, including citizens, wrongly classified as enemy aliens – not since those darkest times has such a catalogue of hateful attacks on those classified as “other” been unleashed.“ – Jacqueline Bhabha, a Harvard professor and author of the book Can We Solve the Migration Crisis?
All Canadians deserve access to precious emergency care
“Urban dwellers may be surprised to hear that getting the care you need when you need it can be a challenge for the 18 per cent of Canadians who live in rural areas. They might be even more surprised to hear that the network of helicopters, planes and ambulances spread from coast-to-coast-to-coast isn’t only disjointed; it’s patchwork funding often leaves patients on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars.” – Blair Bigham, a resident emergency physician in Hamilton, Ont., and former flight paramedic.
LIVING BETTER
Monitor your home security while away with this camera and light system
Summertime means vacation time and often extended trips away from home. While double checking your locks is often enough, home owners looking for extra security may be interested in the Sengled Snap security camera. The Snap looks like a floodlight but offers 140-degree video surveillance anytime of the day through its app. It also includes a two-way intercom, allowing you talk to the delivery man – or scare off an intruder from far, far away.
MOMENT IN TIME
Karl Benz takes his first automobile on a public road
July 3, 1886: Karl Benz was not the first to invent a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine. He was, however, the first to patent the idea. On July 3, 1886, Benz’s three-wheeled Motorwagen – with a 0.75-horsepower, single-cylinder, four-stroke gasoline engine – changed the world. Benz, 41, climbed into the two-seat horseless carriage for its first public drive, and hit a top speed of 16 kilometres an hour through Mannheim, Germany. It was Bertha Benz, Karl’s wife, who financed the venture. And it was Bertha who, two years later, borrowed the car without asking to go on a 105-kilometre trip to visit her mother in Pforzheim, proving that the car really worked. Today, the automaker that bears Karl’s name, Mercedes-Benz, is an industry giant, and its Mercedes-AMG GT R – featuring 577 horsepower – can hit 319 km/h. To think, it all started with patent number 37435. – Darren McGee
If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday morning, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.