Wednesday Morning Briefing: Close-fought Ohio race fuels Democratic hopes for November

Politics

A hotly contested race in Ohio for a U.S. House of Representatives seat that has gone Republican for more than 30 years remained too close to call, in an encouraging sign for Democrats heading into the Nov. 6 elections.

Trump’s former deputy campaign manager Rick Gates will take the stand for a third day, after admitting he stole money from his former boss Paul Manafort and helped falsify documents to avoid taxes.

Ginger Gibson  @GingerGibson

Gretchen Whitmer's win in Michigan ties the record for women gubernatorial candidates nominated in a year. Laura Kelly's win in Kansas breaks the record for women gubernatorial candidates nominated in a year.

10:25 PM - Aug 7, 2018

Iran Sanctions

A U.S. plan to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero will not succeed, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was cited as saying by an Iranian newspaper.

China’s business ties with Iran are open, transparent and lawful, its foreign ministry said, after Trump said companies doing business with Iran would be barred from the United States.

World

Special Report: As Aung San Suu Kyi’s party took power in 2016, expectations rose that she would introduce an era of greater press freedom in Myanmar. Now, the jailing of two Reuters journalists has become a test of the country’s democratic reform.

“We’ve had light earthquakes in the past, but never anything like this,” said Marcel De Rijk, owner of Lombok boutique hotel chain Puri Mas Resort. Days after a powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia’s resort island, killing more than 130 people and sending thousands of tourists fleeing, its beach strip stands eerily empty, with shops and hotels shuttered.

Saudi Arabia said it had stopped all medical treatment programs in Canada and was working on the transfer of all Saudi patients from hospitals there, in an escalating row after Ottawa urged it to free rights activists.

An anticipated Syrian government offensive against rebels in Idlib province could displace more than 700,000 people, far more than were uprooted in a recent battle in the southwest of Syria, a U.N.-led group of health agencies said in a monthly report.

Tech

Breakingviews - Tesla buyout would need to go short on leverage

Elon Musk has set up a new diversion for the electric-car maker he runs. On Tuesday he announced on Twitter he is “considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.” That’s not as big a long shot as it might sound. But a buyout would have to be short on leverage.

3 min read

New genre of artificial intelligence programs take computer hacking to another level

The nightmare scenario for computer security - artificial intelligence programs that can learn how to evade even the best defenses - may already have arrived.

3 min read

Apple tells lawmakers iPhones are not listening in on consumers

Apple told U.S. lawmakers that its iPhones do not listen to users without their consent and do not allow third-party apps to do so either, after lawmakers asked the company if its devices were invading users’ privacy.

3 Min Read

Samsung Galaxy S7 smartphones vulnerable to hacking: researchers

Samsung’s Galaxy S7 smartphones contain a microchip security flaw, uncovered earlier this year, that put tens of millions of devices at risk to hackers looking to spy on their users, researchers told Reuters.

3 min read

Top Stories on Reuters TV

U.S. finalizes next China tariff list

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