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The Border, AR-15s, Drones and Dogs: Balance of Power’s Weekend Reads

The Border, AR-15s, Drones and Dogs: Balance of Power’s Weekend Reads 

(Bloomberg) --

President Donald Trump reversed his policy of separating kids from their parents for crossing the U.S. border illegally, but the issue isn’t over, as Congress is on the hook for a permanent fix. Read about that, Brexit’s most enthusiastic supporters no longer wanting to talk about it, and why gun makers love selling AR-15s in this edition of Weekend Reads.

The Border, AR-15s, Drones and Dogs: Balance of Power’s Weekend Reads

Game Theory Shows How Tit-for-Tat Tariffs Can Lead to Trade War
Picking a fight with a trading partner seems like a bad idea, but it’s not necessarily irrational. The problem, Peter Coy, Andrew Mayeda, and Sofia Horta e Costa explain, is miscalculation.

Young Voters Chafe at Erdogan's Turkey, the Only One They Know
In the run-up to Turkey’s national election, Bloomberg reporters have been crisscrossing the country talking to voters. From the Aegean coastal city of Izmir, Onur Ant explains why President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may struggle to win over a rapidly growing chunk of the electorate in tomorrow’s ballot.

Italy’s Populists Show How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
Viktoria Dendrinou looks at how Italy’s upstart politicians are antagonizing the EU.

In Brexit’s Ground Zero, Brexit Is Hardly Talked About Anymore
Thomas Penny and Rodney Jefferson travel to Sunderland, England, and find the city that defined Brexit has given up on it.  You can see a slide show, here.

Drones, Dogs and More: Belgium Prepares for Cliff-Edge Brexit
As fears grow across the EU of a “no-deal” split that would see the U.K. crashing out of the bloc without any transition period, Marine Strauss and Ian Wishart report that Belgium is investing in drones for surveillance of its coastline, scanners to operate underwater and additional dogs for the detection of drugs and cash. 

The Border, AR-15s, Drones and Dogs: Balance of Power’s Weekend Reads

One Cop’s Fight Against Fake News is Saving Lives in India
Iain Marlow traveled to Telangana, in rural India, where messages warning of child kidnappers and murderers led to mob violence, for this report on a local antidote to a global phenomenon. The photos are pretty great too.

A Ghost Army of Workers Is Paid to Do Nothing in the Gulf
Show up, swipe in. The routine is familiar to office workers everywhere. In Kuwait, it proved too much to ask. Zainab Fattah reports on public payrolls swollen by jobs that are more like welfare, and explains why cuts would break a tacit deal with citizens and spur unrest.

How Spain Got Its Swagger Back After Years of Chaos and Hurt
Rodrigo OrhuelaThomas Gualtieri, and Ben Sills report that a surge in exports by small and midsize companies is helping Spain’s economy grow after its deepest recession in a half-century.

Why Gunmakers Would Rather Sell AR-15s Than Handguns
Polly Mosendz examines the business disparity between handguns and long guns.  It’s the “Mr. Potato Head effect,” one analyst said, explaining the appeal of the latter. “You can add these attachments, trick them out, customize them.”

Gold Street Is Where South Africa’s Mining History Goes to Die 
Ana Monteiro and Felix Njini report from the town of Carletonville, where mines are closing and dismissed workers are pushing the nation’s 28 percent unemployment rate even higher.

And finally …  Forests in Austria for centuries have been owned by old money, noble families such as the Habsburgs or Liechtensteins, the Roman Catholic Church and the government. Now, as Matthias Wabl reports, better-known clients who have made their fortunes in recent decades are buying in – including Cord Prinzhorn, the chief executive officer of an Austrian packaging company, who purchased a forest roughly the size of Manhattan for 92 million euros ($108 million).

The Border, AR-15s, Drones and Dogs: Balance of Power’s Weekend Reads

 

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Karl Maier at kmaier2@bloomberg.net, Caroline Alexander

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