Friday 30 June 2017

Friday Morning Briefing

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 A Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter sit as medics treat his comrades injured by sniper fired by Islamic State militants in a field hospital in Raqqa, Syria June 28, 2017. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

A Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter sit as medics treat his comrades injured by sniper fired by Islamic State militants in a field hospital in Raqqa, Syria June 28, 2017. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

 

Washington

 

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration reversed a decision and said fiancés would be considered close family members and therefore allowed to travel to the United States as its revised travel ban took effect. 

 

Trump will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week at a summit in Germany that brings two world leaders whose political fortunes have become intertwined face-to-face for the first time. 

 

Bills backed by Donald Trump to crack down on illegal immigrants passed the U.S. House of Representatives, drawing criticism from immigration activists and others who called them a threat to civil liberties.

 

A federal judge blocked a California law set to take effect July 1 that bans residents under many circumstances from owning a firearm magazine capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition, court documents showed. 


A demonstrator holding a rudimentary shield poses for a picture before a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, June 17, 2017. He said: "I protest for freedom. I fight for freedom of speech." REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

A demonstrator holding a rudimentary shield poses for a picture before a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, June 17, 2017. He said: "I protest for freedom. I fight for freedom of speech." REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

 

 
World

 

Germany's parliament backed the legalization of same-sex marriage in an historic vote hailed by gay activists and leftist parties but criticized by some in Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling conservative bloc and by the Catholic Church.

 

Iraqi government forces attacked Islamic State's remaining redoubt in Mosul's Old City, a day after formally declaring the end of the insurgents' self-declared caliphate and the capture of the historic mosque which symbolized their power.

 

Commentary: Mosul's fall won't stop Islamic State spreading fear

 

China urged the United States to revoke immediately its "wrong decision" to sell Taiwan $1.42 billion worth of arms, saying it contradicted a "consensus" President Xi Jinping reached with his counterpart, Donald Trump, in talks in April in Florida. 


 

Business

 

Years before Donald Trump began promising to bring back good manufacturing jobs by getting tough with U.S. trade partners, such jobs have already been on the rise, largely thanks to foreign companies now cast as villains in Trump's narrative. Reuters analysis of federal jobs data shows that out of 656,000 new manufacturing jobs created between 2010 and 2014, two thirds can be attributed to foreign direct investment.

 

As U.S. officials investigated in January the Russian spy service's alleged role in election cyber attacks, U.S. technology firms were quietly lobbying the government to soften a ban on dealing with the Russian spy agency, people with direct knowledge of the effort told Reuters.

 

Western tech firms bow to Russian demands.

 

Airbus is launching a reorganization of its commercial aircraft sales operations in a move likely to focus fresh attention on a delicate balance of

power at Europe's largest aerospace company, people familiar with the situation said. 

 

Berkshire Hathaway said it would swap its preferred shares in Bank of America to buy 700 million common shares, following the bank's plan to raise its dividend.