Bhinneka News Online: Wednesday Morning Briefing: Survey shows U.S. military families far more negative about housing than landlords claim

Wednesday 22 May 2019

Wednesday Morning Briefing: Survey shows U.S. military families far more negative about housing than landlords claim

Highlights

U.S. military families are far more dissatisfied with their housing conditions than their private landlords claim, according to a granular survey of tenants at more than 100 bases across the country that echoes a series of Reuters investigative reports.

More than 100 public health and anti-tobacco organizations are calling on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snap to curb tobacco product marketing, citing a recent Reuters report revealing cigarette maker Philip Morris International’s campaign using young ‘influencers.’

The United States sees signs the Syrian government may be using chemical weapons, including an alleged chlorine attack on Sunday in northwest Syria, the State Department said on Tuesday, warning that Washington and its allies would respond “quickly and appropriately” if this were proven.

British Prime Minister Theresa May’s final Brexit gambit was in tatters just hours after her offer of a vote on a second referendum and closer trading arrangements failed to win over either opposition lawmakers or many in her own party. May has said she will agree a timetable for the election of her successor after a fourth and final vote on her Brexit deal in parliament early next month. A large number of Conservatives appear to be jostling to replace her so there could be a wide field of candidates. This is how Britain's Conservative Party choose PM May's successor.

India’s ruling coalition has promised to rev up growth, double farmers’ income and boost infrastructure spending in the next five years after exit polls showed it would retain power when general election votes are counted. Exit polls have predicted an outright majority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alliance in the seven-phase election that ended on Sunday. Such surveys have proved misleading before and the opposition has dismissed them as “gossip.”

Demonstrations over the outcome of last month’s presidential election gripped the heart of Indonesia’s capital after an overnight face-off between police and protesters in which, according to Jakarta’s governor, six people were killed. The protests followed an announcement before dawn by the election commission confirming that President Joko Widodo had beaten his challenger, former general Prabowo Subianto, in the April 17 poll.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani rejected talks with the United States, after President Donald Trump said Iran would call and ask for negotiations “if and when they are ever ready”. Trump restored U.S. sanctions on Iran last year and extended them this month, ordering all countries to halt imports of Iranian oil or face sanctions of their own. Iran has repeatedly rejected any further negotiations as long as the United States remains outside the nuclear pact. “Today’s situation is not suitable for talks and our choice is resistance only,” state news agency IRNA quoted Rouhani as saying.

Business

The U.S. administration is considering Huawei-like sanctions on Chinese video surveillance firm Hikvision, media reports show, deepening worries that trade friction between the world’s top two economies could be further inflamed. The restrictions would limit Hikvision’s ability to buy U.S. technology and American companies may have to obtain government approval to supply components to the Chinese firm, the New York Times reported.

Exclusive: Behind Grindr's doomed hookup in China, a data misstep and scramble to make up. Early last year, Grindr’s Chinese owner gave some Beijing-based engineers access to personal information of millions of Americans such as private messages and HIV status, according to eight former employees, prompting U.S. officials to ask it to sell the dating app for the gay community.

Exclusive: Walmart will meet large consumer goods companies and advertising firms for the first time in New York next week to pitch its advertising business, as the world’s largest retailer aims to rev up its website and stores as a platform for other companies to reach customers. The event marks Walmart’s first effort to grow its nascent advertising business and heralds the retailer’s rising challenge to online ad leaders Alphabet Inc’s Google, Facebook Inc and Amazon.com.

China’s three biggest airlines have asked U.S. planemaker Boeing to compensate them for losses caused by the grounding and delayed deliveries of 737 MAX jets, just as regulators gather to discuss design changes for the troubled aircraft. Air China and China Southern Airlines spokesmen on Wednesday told Reuters the pair have added their voices to a request from China Eastern Airlines announced a day earlier.

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Politics

Trump, House Democrats square off in U.S. court over Deutsche Bank documents

Lawyers for U.S. President Donald Trump, three of his children and the Trump Organization will demand in court that a judge stop Deutsche Bank and Capital One Financial from providing financial records to Democratic lawmakers investigating Trump’s businesses.

4 min read