|  | | | | | | | | | Top News | | China expressed “deep concerns” over a U.S. Navy warship sailing through the Taiwan Strait, a day after Beijing warned that it was ready for war if Taiwan moved toward independence. Taiwan is among a growing number of flashpoints in the U.S.-China relationship, which include a trade war, U.S. sanctions and China’s increasingly muscular military posture in the South China Sea, where the United States also conducts freedom-of-navigation patrols. | | | | British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet his Brexiteer-dominated team of senior ministers for the first time to plot how to persuade the European Union to agree to a new Brexit deal ahead of the Oct. 31 exit deadline. Britain’s new leader promised to do a new Brexit deal with the bloc within less than 99 days but warned that if EU leaders refused - what he termed a “remote possibility” - then Britain would leave without a deal, “no ifs or buts”. | | | | Spain’s acting prime minister Pedro Sanchez looked all but certain to fail in a parliamentary confirmation vote after coalition talks with far-left Unidas Podemos collapsed, raising the risk of a repeat election. Sanchez, who won an April parliamentary poll but fell short of a majority, needs Podemos to support him and at least one other smaller party to abstain to reach the simple majority required to be confirmed as premier by parliament. Barring any last minute surprise, he seemed unlikely to be in a position to secure this.
| | | | | Asia | | The wedge of sea between Japan, Russia, and the Korean peninsula became a new flashpoint this week, with a regional airspace dispute, a seized fishing boat, and missile tests by North Korea aggravating longstanding tensions. The patch of ocean is commonly known as the Sea of Japan, but South Korea argues it should be known by the more neutral name the East Sea. The dispute over the name exemplifies the numerous conflicting interests in the area, which has been the scene of sometimes intense military and political brinkmanship.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | Politics | | A federal judge in San Francisco blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a new rule that aimed to bar almost all asylum applications at the U.S.-Mexico border. District Judge Jon Tigar in the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction blocking the rule, which would require asylum-seekers to first pursue safe haven in a third country they had traveled through on their way to the United States. | | | | | | | | Two Democratic senators will unveil a bill to curb climate change by slapping a fee on oil, natural gas and coal and delivering most of the revenues to low- and middle-income Americans, one of the lawmakers said. Senator Chris Coons and Senator Dianne Feinstein will introduce the Climate Action Rebate Act, which aims to generate $2.5 trillion in revenues over 10 years starting in 2020. It would rebate about 70 percent of the money to families that make less than $130,000 per year, and use the rest for energy infrastructure, job retraining for fossil fuel workers, and research and development. President Trump, a Republican, rejects climate science and has slashed regulations on oil and gas drillers and coal miners.
| | | | | | | | When Trump tweeted in May his intention to raise tariffs on Chinese goods, management at California-based NewAir Appliances knew they needed to do something or their business would be in trouble. The importer of beer fridges, ice makers and other household devices - all sourced from China - had tackled 10% tariffs imposed last year by seeking to cut costs and negotiating with big box and other retailers for better terms. But the jump to 25% tariffs presented a much bigger challenge.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | Business | | Japanese car maker Nissan Motor said it is axing 12,500 jobs and warned a quick turnaround in its performance was not imminent after reporting its quarterly profit was nearly wiped out. 3 min read | | | | When Saudi Aramco was on the verge of a deal last year to buy a stake in an Indian oil refinery, its boss quickly boarded a company jet in Paris and flew to New Delhi. The planned investment in the $44-billion refinery and petrochemical project on India’s west coast is a prime example of how Aramco is trying to squeeze value out of each barrel of oil it produces by snapping up refining capacity, mainly in fast-growing Asia. But it also underlines the challenge Saudi Arabia faces in reducing its heavy economic reliance on oil.
8 Min Read | | | | Tesla pushed back its profit timeline once again after missing financial targets in the second quarter, while announcing that the pioneer of the company’s electric batteries, J.B. Straubel, was stepping down from his role as chief technology officer. 5 min read | | | | | | | | | | | | | Top Stories on Reuters TV | | | | | | | |
