Sep 18, 2017

Cohn tells allies U.S. will withdraw from Paris accord

Gary Cohn at the White House. Photo: Alex Brandon / AP

White House economic adviser Gary Cohn met with representatives from top allies at a breakfast ahead of the United Nations General Assembly, telling them that the Trump administration still plans to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, per the NYT.

ICYMI: The WSJ dropped a story over the weekend that the U.S. wanted to find a middle ground to stay in the deal rather than pull out entirely.
The response: The White House pushed back quickly, stating that there was "no change" to Trump's position on Paris. Cohn's statements at the breakfast reiterated that point.
Why it matters: The fact that Cohn met with other countries about Paris ahead of the UNGA indicates that the White House might at least be open to hearing other ideas regarding the agreement — an idea floated yesterday by Axios' Ben Geman and Amy Harder.

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Axios

China tries to contain coronavirus, as Apple warns of earnings impact

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's NHC; Note: China refers to mainland China and the Diamond Princess is the cruise ship offshore Yokohama, Japan. Map: Danielle Alberti/Axios

As China pushes to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus — placing around 780 million people under travel restrictions, per CNN — the economic repercussions continue to be felt globally as companies like Apple warn of the impact from the lack of manufacturing and consumer demand in China.

The big picture: COVID-19 has now killed at least 1,775 people and infected more than 70,000 others, mostly in mainland China. There are some signs that new cases are growing at a slower rate now, although the World Health Organization said Monday it's "too early to tell" if this will continue.

Go deeperUpdated 1 hour ago - Health

Ina Fried

Apple will miss quarterly earnings estimates due to coronavirus

Apple CEO Tim Cook

Apple issued a rare earnings warning on Monday, saying it would not meet quarterly revenue expectations due to the impact of the coronavirus, which will limit iPhone production and limit product demand in China.

Why it matters: Lots of companies rely on China for production, but unlike most U.S. tech companies, Apple also gets a significant chunk of its revenue from sales in China.

Go deeper2 hours ago - Technology

Orion Rummler

America's dwindling executions

The Trump administration wants to reboot federal executions, pointing to a 16-year lapse, but Pew Research reports the government has only executed three people since 1963.

The big picture: Nearly all executions in the U.S. are done by states. Even those have been steadily dropping for two decades, per the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) — marking a downward trend for all executions in the country.

Go deeper4 hours ago - Politics & Policy