Wednesday, 24 July 2019

Wednesday Morning Briefing: Mueller to testify at hearings with high stakes for Trump and Democrats

U.S.

Robert Mueller testifies to Congress at a pair of televised hearings that carry high stakes for President Donald Trump and Democrats who are split between impeaching him or moving on to the 2020 election. Democrats, who control the House, hope his testimony will rally public support behind their own ongoing investigations of the Republican president and his administration, even as they struggle with whether to launch the impeachment process set out in the U.S. Constitution for removing a president from office for “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

The Justice Department said it was opening a broad investigation of major digital technology firms into whether they engage in anticompetitive practices, the strongest sign the Trump administration is stepping up its scrutiny of Big Tech. The review will look into “whether and how market-leading online platforms have achieved market power and are engaging in practices that have reduced competition, stifled innovation, or otherwise harmed consumers,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

A group of coal miners afflicted with black lung disease met with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as part of an effort to convince lawmakers to restore a higher excise tax on coal companies to help fund their medical care, but several said the meeting left them discouraged.

A new U.S. rule aimed at slashing the number of asylum cases at the southern border with Mexico faces a court test when a federal judge will hear arguments about whether to block the measure pending trial. Opponents say the rule violates U.S. laws covering asylum-seekers fleeing persecution, while the Trump administration considers it a legal means to combat fraudulent asylum claims.

World

Ghana’s Western Region is a major producer of cocoa, rubber and palm oil grown by smallholder farmers. But cash crops are fickle and slow-paying, and the rocks there are laced with so much gold they glisten - luring millions to informal mines that slowly poison them. Read the full Reuters story.

Severe flooding has killed at least 61 people, displaced nearly 800,000 and inundated thousands of homes across a third of Bangladesh, government officials said, after two weeks of heavy monsoon rains. Nearly 3 million people are struggling with flooding, the worst in two years, according to the disaster management and relief ministry.

China’s defense ministry warned that it was ready for war if there was a move toward Taiwan’s independence, accusing the United States of undermining global stability and denouncing its arms sales to the self-ruled island. The United States is the main arms supplier to Taiwan, which China deems a wayward province. Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. The U.S. has no formal ties with democratic Taiwan, but is bound by law to help provide it with the means to defend itself.

Hundreds of Afghans, weary of war and unsure of the future, have joined a letter-writing campaign to share their feelings with the powerful few who will decide on peace with the Taliban and, with it, the fate of their country. The letters from different parts of Afghanistan express a tangled mix of confusion, resignation and fear.

UK

Boris Johnson takes office as British prime minister and will then unveil the names of the team he has tasked with delivering Brexit by the end of October, with or without a deal. Johnson's pledge to energize the country and deliver Brexit - do or die - on Oct. 31, sets the United Kingdom up for a showdown with the European Union and thrusts it toward a potential constitutional crisis, or election, at home. The European Union congratulated Boris Johnson but warned of “challenging times ahead” and ruled out heeding his election pledge to renegotiate Brexit.

All 23 crew on a British-flagged tanker seized last week by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz are safe and well, the vessel’s Swedish operator Stena Bulk said after speaking to them. Iran said on Saturday it had seized the Stena Impero because it had collided with a fishing boat. Stena Bulk has said it has received no evidence of such a collision.

Autos

Japan's Nissan to double global job cuts to over 10,000

Nissan Motor plans to expand job cuts to over 10,000 to help turn around its business, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said, as profit continues to plunge while the automaker grapples with management upheaval.

3 min read

Aston Martin shares crash on European sales hit

Aston Martin became the latest auto firm to report a hit to its business from a shaky European economic mood, cutting its 2019 volumes forecast after sales to dealers in the region fell by almost a fifth in the first half.

4 Min Read

Business

Deutsche Bank suffers $3.5 billion loss on road to reinvention

Deutsche Bank reported a bigger than forecast quarterly loss of $3.5 billion, underlining the challenges it faces as it attempts to turn around its struggling business.

4 min read

AT&T beats quarterly phone subscriber estimates

AT&T beat Wall Street estimates for net wireless subscribers who pay a monthly bill as it grounded out some growth in a saturated market and continues to bundle media content from Time Warner into new wireless plans.

2 min read

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