Tuesday Morning Briefing: America heads to the polls

Election Day

Showdowns in Georgia and Florida pitting black Democratic candidates against white Republicans supported by President Donald Trump headline the three dozen governors’ races being contested in today’s U.S. elections. Democratic Representative Beto O’Rourke of Texas faces one of his party’s biggest challenges, as he aims to oust Republican Ted Cruz to become the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in the deeply conservative state in three decades.

After a divisive campaign marked by fierce clashes over race, immigration and other cultural issues, Americans will cast votes to determine the balance of power in the U.S. Congress and shape the future of Donald Trump’s presidency. Voters in several states will vote on ballot measures that could change state laws on a range of divisive social issues, including abortion and marijuana.

U.S. rights advocates said they are on the alert for ways in which votes could be suppressed in today’s congressional elections because complaints about registration problems, faulty equipment and intimidation have been a feature of early balloting that began last month. Follow the latest election coverage.

How the market shakes out in the final two years of Trump’s presidency will probably be influenced by today’s elections. Analysts expect pressure on stocks if Democrats gain control of the House of Representatives and a sharper downward reaction if they sweep the House and Senate.

Commentary: How the midterm elections could sway Trump’s foreign policy. In the Nov. 6 congressional midterm elections, the American political deck will likely be reshuffled – and with it the geopolitical one as well. How will it resonate beyond U.S. shores? The answer is, more and less than you might think, writes David E. Wade, Chief of Staff to the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chief of Staff to the U.S. Department of State from 2013-2015.

Patricia Zengerle  @ReutersZengerle

Tuesday’s elections, widely seen as a referendum on Trump, have been portrayed by both Republicans and Democrats as critical for the direction of the country. https://reut.rs/2DpmRRR

11:55 PM - Nov 5, 2018

World

President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would not abide by the renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil and shipping industries, adding that they were aimed at “unbalancing the world”.

China’s airlines are struggling with an acute pilot shortage amid surging travel demand – just 713 of the country’s nearly 56,000 qualified pilots are female.

Facebook said a human rights report it commissioned on its presence in Myanmar showed it had not done enough to prevent its social network from being used to incite violence. Two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, have been imprisoned in Myanmar since Dec. 12, 2017. Follow the case here.

Business

Ford goes local in India, aims for bigger slice of competitive market

Ford Motor made a profit in India for the first time in a decade in the last fiscal year, signaling that a strategy conceived two years ago by the U.S. car manufacturer for one of the world’s most competitive car markets is starting to show some success.

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Changing tack: Samsung to reveal some features of foldable phone this week

Keen to make its foldable smartphone the next big thing, Samsung Electronics will depart from its usual policy of keeping product plans highly secret and provide some details of the phone’s key features for app developers this week.

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China grants more trademark approvals for Ivanka Trump firm - including voting machines

China last month granted initial approval for 16 new trademarks for the fashion brand of U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter and adviser Ivanka, including voting machines, a search of official records on Tuesday showed.

2 min read

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