U.S. offer on global minimum tax is basis for compromise, says Le Maire

PARIS, May 21 (Reuters) – The latest U.S. proposal in international talks for a global minimum corporate tax rate are a basis for compromise, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday as he arrived for talks with euro zone counterparts in Lisbon.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday offered to accept a global minimum corporate tax of at least 15%, a rate significantly below its proposed 21% minimum for U.S. multinationals.

How Military Quagmires Have Caught Mighty Powers by Surprise

By Thomas E. Ricks

We probably have too many books about the Civil War and World War II, but certainly could use closer examinations of our less understood conflicts. So it is good to see several new works explore more obscure corners of American military history.

GOP Group Busts A Big Republican Talking Point Using Donald Trump’s Own Words

Ex-President Donald Trump’s vitriolic blog posts are used to dispel a current Republican talking point in a conservative group’s damning new ad.

“Republicans say they want to move on past the 2020 election,” the narrator begins the Republican Accountability Project’s latest spot released Thursday.

The 76-second clip cuts to Trump repeatedly ranting on his blog about the 2020 election, baselessly alleging it was stolen from him.

Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) then appear on screen, declaring that it’s time to move on. 

“If Republicans want to move on from the 2020 election,” the narrator concludes, “They should tell Donald Trump.”

Last week, the never-Trump group (part of Defending Democracy Together) shared a video naming the GOP lawmakers who enabled Trump in summoning “the mob” to the deadly U.S. Capitol riot.

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Chris Bosh’s Favorite Basketball Writers? Kobe Bryant Makes the List.

“He was one of my heroes growing up,” says the 11-time N.B.A. All-Star and author of “Letters to a Young Athlete.” “Any morsel of knowledge that he shared should be treasured.”

Oil Set For Weekly Loss On Iran Supply Worries

Oil prices rose on Friday after three days of losses, but headed for a weekly drop amid potential return of Iranian supplies.

Brent crude futures for July settlement rose half a percent to $65.44 a barrel, after having fallen 2.3 percent on Thursday. Prices are down about 5 percent this week, the most since March 19.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures for July delivery rose over 1 percent to $62.61 a barrel, after losing 2.2 percent the previous day. The June contract expired on Thursday.

Brent oil was heading for the biggest weekly decline since March after top policymakers said they could lift sanctions prohibiting Iranian oil export.

The Persian Gulf nation’s president, Hassan Rouhani, said world powers have accepted that major sanctions will be lifted, though details and finer points are still awaited.

Some of the most optimistic analysts estimate the country could return to pre-sanctions production of 4 million barrels a day in as little as three months.

The potential for additional Iranian oil exports is being reflected in Brent’s prompt timespread, which is nearing a bearish contango structure.

Letters to the Editor From Ann Beattie, Daphne Merkin and Others

Monopoly’s Megaphone

To the Editor:

Liaquat Ahamed’s review of Amy Klobuchar’s “Antitrust: Taking on Monopoly Power From the Gilded Age to the Digital Age” (May 9) focuses too much on the legal philosophies of the Gilded Age and not enough on her central premise: “By restricting competition the trusts not only hurt consumers and workers and damaged the functioning of the capitalist system, they also came to be seen as a threat to American democracy itself.”

China says ByteDance, Baidu, Microsoft improperly collected user data

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s internet watchdog said on Friday that companies including ByteDance, Baidu and Kuaishou had improperly collected user data.

China Cyberspace Administration also named American tech giant Microsoft and its two products Bing and LinkedIn in a statement.

Sky Super Rugby Transtasman live updates: Force v Highlanders

All the action between the Force and Highlanders.

Elon Musk says Tesla eyeing Russia as a potential production hub

• Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company is looking at opening production facilities in other parts of the world.

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• TSLA

Elon Musk said on Friday that Tesla was close to establishing a presence in Russia and was looking at whether it could open factories there.

Addressing an event in Russia via video link, Tesla boss Musk said the company already had production sites in China and the United States, but was looking at opening production facilities in other parts of the world.

College sports notebook: Iowa State football somehow kept coach Matt Campbell in Ames after another successful season

Iowa State fans undoubtedly felt some combination of happiness and relief, with a likely emphasis on the latter, when Cyclones football coach Matt Campbell chose to remain in Ames, turning down a hefty offer from the NFL’s Detroit Lions to do so, according to reports.

But they also might have to get used to the prospect that there will be more suitors for Campbell’s services if the winning seasons continue.

The 2020 campaign will be hard to top for the Cyclones.

Their nine wins were the most in a season since 2000, and the ledger included wins against both Oklahoma and Texas for the first time in program history. They concluded with a convincing Fiesta Bowl victory against Oregon and wound up with a highest-ever No. 9 ranking in the final USA TODAY Sports coaches poll. It was also the program’s fourth consecutive winning season under Campbell, the longest such string since a run of five from 1923-27.