Tuesday 9 October 2018

Tuesday Morning Briefing: Brett Kavanaugh gets to work at Supreme Court

Highlights

Just three days after he was narrowly confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court despite facing allegations of sexual assault, Brett Kavanaugh is set to take his seat on the bench on Tuesday morning, solidifying a conservative majority for years to come.

Hurricane Michael was expected to strengthen in the Gulf of Mexico, taking aim at the Florida panhandle, where residents were implored to get out of harm’s way ahead of life-threatening waves, winds and rains.

Trump will seek to lift a federal ban on summer sales of higher-ethanol blends of gasoline, a senior White House official said, delivering on a move long-sought by anxious Midwest farmers ahead of November’s elections.

World

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has invited Pope Francis to visit Pyongyang in a gesture designed to highlight peace efforts on the Korean peninsula, South Korea’s presidential office said.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called on Riyadh to prove its claim that Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who has been missing since last week, left the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, while the Washington called on Saudi Arabia to support an investigation into his disappearance.

Rescue workers in Indonesia stepped up their search for victims of an earthquake and tsunami, hoping to find as many bodies as they can before this week’s deadline for their work to halt, as the official death toll rose to 2,010.

Commentary: Iran is sending stark signals that escalating U.S. sanctions will not push Tehran to change its foreign policy, writes Maysam Behravesh, a journalist at the TV channel Iran International and an affiliated researcher at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University, Sweden. Recent Iranian missile strikes in Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan, along with last week's International Court of Justice ruling in Iran's favor, "will likely encourage the Iranian leadership to stay its defiant course."

Wider Image: For Harrison Massie, transitioning from female to male was never about trading one gender for another. As he embarked on his journey, Sara Swaty, a young photographer and friend, set off to capture it, frame by frame, year after year.

Reuters Top News  @Reuters

Two @Reuters journalists have been imprisoned in Myanmar for 302 days. See full coverage: https://reut.rs/2yPnwus

5:01 AM - OCT 9, 2018

Business

Google goes global with 10 events for new Pixel phones

Alphabet’s Google will unveil the third edition of its Pixel smartphone at 10 media events across the world, a hint that it is prepared to expand geographic distribution of a device it hopes someday is as popular as Apple’s iPhone.

3 min read

China slashes U.S. LPG imports amid trade war

China has choked back on imports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the United States, traders and analysts said, turning to the Middle East for extra supplies amid the two countries’ trade dispute.

3 min read

Microsoft to invest in Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab

Microsoft is investing in Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab as part of a partnership that the two companies said will allow them to collaborate on technology projects, including big data and artificial intelligence.

3 Min Read

Top Stories on Reuters TV

Identity of Novichok suspect revealed - Bellingcat

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Deportations spread fear among India's Rohingya

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