Tuesday Morning Briefing

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Farmer Erik Groszyk holds a rack of Tuscan Kale growing inside his hydroponic climate controlled farm, one of 10 repurposed 320-square-foot metal shipping containers where entrepreneur farmers enrolled in the "Square Roots" farming program are growing and selling a variety of greens in the parking lot of a former Pfizer factory in the Brooklyn Borough of New York City, U.S. on May 5, 2017. Picture taken May 5, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Segar

 


Washington

 

The U.S. Department of Justice charged Reality Leigh Winner, 25, a federal contractor, with removing classified material from a government facility located in Georgia and sending it to a news organization that sources identified to Reuters as The Intercept, marking one of the first concrete efforts by the Trump administration to crack down on leaks to the media. She was arrested on June 3, the Justice Department said. The top-secret document from the U.S. National Security Agency described Russian efforts to launch cyber attacks on at least one U.S. voting software supplier and send "spear-phishing" emails, or targeted emails that try to trick a recipient into clicking on a malicious link to steal data, to more than 100 local election officials days before the presidential election last November.

U.S. President Donald Trump told Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that the dispute over probes into links between his inner circle and Russia should not undermine U.S. efforts to rebuild relations with Moscow, Tillerson said.

 

The U.S. State Department called for the immediate release of three labor rights activists who conducted an investigation into a Chinese company making Ivanka Trump-branded shoes. Last month one activist was arrested and two were missing, according to China Labor Watch, a New York-based advocacy group.

 


Middle East

 

Qatar wants Kuwait to mediate a diplomatic rift between it and other leading Arab nations. Its ruler postponed an address to his country and has also decided not to retaliate against its neighbors, some of which cut travel ties with the nation. The coordinated diplomatic split by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain was said to be prompted by Qatari support for Islamist militants and Iran, something Doha vehemently denies.

 

A security guard shot and killed an Arab-Israeli citizen as hundreds of protesters stormed a police station in central Israel overnight and set fire to vehicles, police said.

 


Russia

 

A Russian Su-27 jet fighter intercepted a U.S. B-52 strategic bomber on Russia's border over the Baltic Sea, Russian news agencies quoted Russia's Defence Ministry as saying.

 

Some of Russia's super-rich have given up residency to escape a 2014 law requiring them to disclose offshore assets, wealthy businessmen told Reuters, a practice that could keep billions of dollars hidden from Moscow's tax authorities.

 


Australia

 

Australian police shot dead a gunman in Melbourne who had been holding a woman hostage, police said, a confrontation for which the militant group Islamic State claimed responsibility.

 

Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 5, 2017 France's Gael Monfils in action during his fourth round match against Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka Reuters / Pascal Rossignol

 


U.K.

 

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he saw no reason to cancel Trump's state visit to Britain after the U.S. president criticized Mayor Sadiq Khan's response to the London Bridge killings. Shortly after the attack that killed seven people, Trump accused Khan of making a "pathetic excuse", for saying that Londoners should not be alarmed by the sight of additional police on the streets.

 

Two days before a national election, Britain's ruling Conservatives and opposition Labour Party battled to defend their records on security after an Islamist attack that killed seven people in London upended the campaign. Police also released the names of three attackers and say one was investigated before. 


U.S.

 

California said it will cooperate with China on clean technology, emissions trading and other "climate-positive" opportunities as it bids to fill the gap left after Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris climate accord last week.

 

A white police officer in Las Vegas was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of a black man held in a chokehold for more than a minute, officials said.

 


Business

 

The U.S. and Mexican governments reached a deal in a dispute over trade in sugar, sources said, averting steep U.S. duties and Mexican retaliation by Mexico on imports of American high-fructose corn syrup ahead of the renegotiation of NAFTA.

 

World stocks fell while safe-haven gold and German government bonds were in demand as tension in the Middle East, an election in Britain and upcoming testimony from the former head of the FBI pushed investors away from risky assets.

 

Apple introduced the HomePod, a voice-controlled speaker that can make music suggestions and adjust home temperatures, taking aim at Amazon.com Inc's Alexa feature and Echo devices.

 

A deal bringing Amazon Prime Video to Apple TV, announced at Apple’s developer conference, after years of talk, shows how competitive tensions among Silicon Valley titans can stand in the way of serving customers.

 

Grab, Uber’s biggest ride-hailing competitor in Southeast Asia, is likely to kick off a fresh round of fundraising "in the near future" as it seeks to develop offerings such as financial services, its head said.