Monday Morning Briefing

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Forensic investigators work at the scene of an attack where a van was driven at muslim worshippers outside a mosque in Finsbury Park in North London, Britain, June 19, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall

 


UK

 

A van plowed into worshippers leaving a London mosque, injuring 10 people in what witnesses said was a deliberate attack on Muslims. The incident was being treated as a potential terrorist attack said Prime Minister Theresa May, which if confirmed would make it the fourth since March in Britain and the third to involve a vehicle deliberately driven at pedestrians.


Brexit Secretary David Davis arrived in Brussels to launch talks he hoped would produce a "new, deep and special partnership" with the EU in the interest of Britons and all Europeans.

 


Syria

 

A U.S. warplane shot down a Syrian army jet in southern Raqqa. Washington said the Syrian jet had dropped bombs near U.S.-backed forces while Damascus said the plane was downed while flying a mission against Islamic State militants. Russian news agencies quoted Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov as saying the United States should respect Syria's territorial integrity and refrain from unilateral actions in this country. 

Russia to target any 'flying objects' over Syria where its aviation is active: agencies

 


Washington

 

Mueller team lawyer brings witness-flipping expertise to Trump probes

 

Trump will meet with the chief executives of technology companies including Apple and Amazon today as the White House looks to the private sector for help in cutting government waste and improving services. The tech CEOs and White House also plan to discuss Trump's plan to review the U.S. visa program for bringing high-skilled foreign workers into the country. 

 


 

France

 

President Emmanuel Macron's Republic on the Move (LREM) party and its center-right Modem ally won 350 out of 577 seats in the lower house, winning the commanding parliamentary majority he wanted to push through far-reaching pro-growth reforms.

 


Japan

 

The U.S. Navy confirmed that all seven missing sailors on the USS Fitzgerald were found dead in flooded berthing compartments after the destroyer's collision with a container ship off Japan over the weekend.

 


Technology

 

Denmark's Casper Klynge will be tasked with building direct ties between his country and the likes of Facebook, Apple and Alphabet's Google. Klynge, the world’s first national technology ambassador, said the top firms in California's Silicon Valley carry more weight on the global stage than many countries, which makes building diplomatic relations with them increasingly important.

 

Alphabet Inc's Google will implement more measures to identify and remove terrorist or violent extremist content on its video sharing platform YouTube, the company said in a blog post.

 


Portugal

A forest fire is seen near Tojeira, Pedrogao Grande, in central Portugal, June 18, 2017. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante

 

A huge forest fire raging since Saturday in central Portugal has killed at least 62 people, most of them dying in their cars as they tried to flee, the government said.

 


Business

 

Boeing unveiled the 737 MAX 10 at the Paris Airshow to plug a gap in its portfolio at the top end of the market for single-aisle jets following runaway sales of European rival Airbus' A321neo.

 

Investors are hoping the Federal Reserve will allow big U.S. banks to put an estimated $150 billion in idle capital toward stock buybacks, dividends and profit-boosting investments in the coming weeks after conducting a regular examination of financial strength.

 

Chinese state oil giants Sinopec and PetroChina are waging war at the nation's gas pumps, slashing prices at unprecedented rates in an effort to reclaim sales lost to private local and foreign rivals in the $440 billion retail fuel market.

 


NATO

 

U.S. and British troops have carried out the first large-scale NATO defensive drill on the border between Poland and Lithuania, rehearsing for a possible scenario in which Russia might try to sever the Baltic states from the rest of the Western alliance.