Monday Morning Briefing

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Cyber attack

 

Asian governments and businesses reported some disruptions from the WannaCry ransomware worm on Monday but cybersecurity experts warned of a wider impact as more employees turned on their computers and checked e-mails. 

 

Officials across the globe scrambled over the weekend to catch the culprits behind a massive ransomware worm that disrupted operations

at car factories, hospitals, shops and schools, while Microsoft on Sunday pinned blame on the U.S. government for not disclosing more software vulnerabilities. 

 

Malicious software called 'ransomware' has forced British hospitals to turn away patients and affected Spanish companies such as Telefonica as part of a global outbreak that has affected tens of thousands of computers. What is WannaCry ransomware? 


Washington

 

U.S. lawmakers on Sunday called on President Donald Trump to turn over any tapes of conversations with fired FBI chief James Comey, potentially setting up a showdown with the White House as Democrats considered a boycott of the vote on Comey's replacement.

 

A federal appeals court is set to hear arguments on Monday over President Donald Trump's temporary travel ban on people entering the United States from six Muslim-majority countries, the second such court to review Trump's directive over the past week. 


 

North Korea

 

North Korea's successful missile test-launch signals major advances in developing an intercontinental ballistic missile, such as mastery of re-entry technology and better engine performance key to targeting the United States, experts say. 


 

China’s Silk Road vision

 

Behind China's trillion-dollar effort to build a modern Silk Road is a lending program of unprecedented breadth, one that will help build ports, roads and rail links, but could also leave some banks and many countries with quite a hangover. 

 

China's first ever Belt and Road summit, held in Beijing over the last two days, has reached a broad consensus and achieved positive outcomes according to President Xi Jinping. 


 

France

 

Chancellor Angela Merkel hosts new French President Emmanuel Macron in Berlin on Monday for talks in which they will seek to reinvigorate the Franco-German relationship and the troubled European project that it underpins. 

 

 

Portugal's Salvador Sobral performs the song "Amar Pelos Dois". REUTERS/Gleb Garanich Portugal won the Eurovision Song contest for the first time over the weekend.


Business

 

South Korean engineer Kim Gwang-ho flew 11,000 km (7,000 miles) to Washington last year to do something he never dreamed he would: report alleged safety lapses at Hyundai Motor Co - his employer of 26 years - to U.S. regulators.  In a culture which values corporate loyalty, Kim was moving against the tide when he handed the NHTSA 250 pages of internal documents on the alleged defect and nine other faults. 

 

Major U.S. multinationals are pushing the Trump administration to deepen the tax break it has already tentatively proposed on $2.6 trillion in corporate profits being held offshore, a key piece in Washington's intricate tax reform puzzle. 

 

U.S. ride services company Lyft Inc and Alphabet’s self-driving car unit Waymo have launched a self-driving vehicle partnership, bringing together two rivals to dominant ride-sharing service Uber. 

 

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to buy a Dublin building with room for 1,000 staff in the first sign of a financial services company expanding significantly in Ireland since the government began a major campaign to attract firms in the wake of Brexit.