Thursday, 7 March 2019

Thursday Morning Briefing: Huawei fights back against U.S. blackout with Texas lawsuit

Top News

Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei sued the U.S. government saying a law limiting its U.S. business was unconstitutional, ratcheting up its fight back against a government bent on closing it out of global markets. Huawei said it had filed a complaint in a federal court in Texas challenging Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law by President Trump in August.

President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort will be sentenced by a U.S. judge in Virginia on Thursday for bank and tax fraud uncovered during Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 election. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis could deliver effectively a life sentence to Manafort, 69, if he follows federal sentencing guidelines cited by prosecutors that call for 19-1/2 to 24 years in prison.

Retired General John Abizaid, President Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to Saudi Arabia, defended the U.S.-Saudi relationship as U.S lawmakers accused the kingdom of a litany of misdeeds and Senator Marco Rubio criticized its crown prince as going “full gangster.”

Senator Martha McSally, the first female combat pilot in the U.S. Air Force, said she had been raped by a superior officer but did not report it because she blamed herself and did not trust the system. “I was preyed upon and then raped by a superior officer,” McSally, 52, said during a Senate hearing on sexual assault in the military.

CEOs of major companies said at a White House forum that they are hiring more Americans without college degrees as they search to find increasingly scarce applicants for open jobs.

 

Two @Reuters journalists have been imprisoned in Myanmar for 451 days. See full coverage: https://reut.rs/2TDk5Qo

2:41 AM - Mar 7, 2019

World

Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido urged Europe to tighten financial sanctions against the government of Nicolas Maduro after it expelled Germany’s ambassador, a magazine quoted him as saying.

New activities have been detected at a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles plant, South Korean media said. Movement of cargo vehicles was spotted recently around a factory at Sanumdong in Pyongyang, which produced North Korea’s first intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States, South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo and Donga Ilbo newspapers reported, citing lawmakers briefed by the National Intelligence Service on Tuesday.

At least 36 countries, including all 28 EU members, have signed a statement criticizing Saudi Arabia’s human rights record at the United Nations Human Rights Council, diplomats said. The statement is the first rebuke of the kingdom since the U.N. forum was set up in 2006.

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Kashmir

China has praised Pakistan’s “restraint” and willingness to talk with India to ease tensions between the two countries after a deadly bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir last month. Pakistan is facing pressure from global powers to act against groups carrying out attacks in India, including Jaish-e-Mohammed, which claimed responsibility for the Feb. 14 attack that killed at least 40 paramilitary police.

A grenade explosion at a bus stand in the Indian city of Jammu killed one person and wounded at least 29, police said, just weeks after a Pakistan-based militant group killed 40 paramilitary police in nearby Kashmir, almost sparking a war.

SUSTAINABLE Business

Saudi Aramco seeks to overhaul engines, fuel amid EV hype

More efficient fuels and more sophisticated combustion engines are needed to bring down carbon dioxide pollution and to secure the long-term future of Saudi Aramco’s business, the company’s chief technology officer said.

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Undercover Down Under: Miners study gum leaves, groundwater for new finds

Australian miners are taking a deeper look at the 80 percent of the country that lies “under cover” - obscured by meters of sediment and sand, particularly in the desert interior, across an area twice the size of India. They are using a mix of new techniques and established methods in new ways, backed by greater computing heft, including a new generation of multi-layered maps produced by Australian government agencies.

6 Min Read

Britain targets a third of electricity from offshore wind by 2030

Britain plans to generate a third of its electricity from offshore wind farms by 2030 and boost the value of exports of offshore wind services and equipment to 2.6 billion pounds ($3.4 billion) a year, the government said.

4 min read

EU agrees on new rules to counter investment 'greenwashing'

The European Union agreed on Thursday on a new law that forces asset managers, insurers and pension funds to disclose environmental risks in their investments. The law is meant to spur green investment and to curb “greenwashing”, a practice whereby companies claim to be more environmentally friendly than they really are.

2 min read

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