Tuesday Morning Briefing: House impeachment probe intensifies as Trump rages about inquiry

Highlights

The House of Representatives’ impeachment probe into Trump intensified, as the U.S. president raged about the inquiry and news reports suggested he had used additional diplomatic channels to go after his adversaries. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, the number of Americans who believe Trump should be impeached rose by 8 percentage points over the past week as more people learned about allegations that he pressured Ukraine to smear his top Democratic political rival Joe Biden.

Iranian courts have sentenced one person to death for spying for the CIA and jailed two others for 10 years for the same crime, as well as imprisoning a fourth person for 10 years for spying for Britain, the judiciary said. The verdicts come amid spiraling tensions between Tehran and the United States. It was not immediately clear if any of the cases were linked to Iran’s announcement in July that it captured 17 spies working for the CIA.

The dollar bulldozed almost everything in its path on its way to a 29-month high, as a blizzard of soft global data left the U.S. economy as the only one still looking in reasonable health. European stocks and the euro both suffered shaky starts as euro zone manufacturing data showed the sharpest contraction in almost seven years, but it was by no means the only alarm bell ringing.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will attempt to head off a corruption indictment at a series of pre-trial hearings that begin on Wednesday, in which he will try to persuade Israel’s attorney-general not to press charges. Here is a look at the criminal cases surrounding Netanyahu.

Asia

Hong Kong protesters threw petrol bombs and police fired tear gas in street battles across the city, posing a direct challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic. Cat-and-mouse clashes spread from the upmarket district of Causeway Bay to the Admiralty area of government offices on Hong Kong island. Violence also escalated across the harbor to Kowloon and beyond to the New Territories in the most widespread unrest in nearly four months.

China’s military showed off new equipment at a parade in central Beijing to mark 70 years since the founding of the People’s Republic, including hypersonic-glide missiles that experts say could be difficult for the United States to counter. Amid the roar of tanks rolling through a residential street in central Beijing at midday, 31-year-old Li Meiping cried tears of joy. “So handsome, so handsome ... we love you, Beijing loves you,” she said, holding both thumbs up to soldiers as they waved to the crowd from behind long black guns anchored to each tank.

Singapore is about to introduce a law against “fake news” which rights groups have warned may stifle free speech and opposition politicians have said could give the government too much power as elections loom. The law was passed earlier this year after a public consultation. It will take effect on Wednesday.

The heaviest monsoon rains to lash India in 25 years have killed more than 1,600 people since June, government data showed, as authorities battled floods in two northern states and muddy waters swirled inside a major city. The monsoon, which typically lasts between June and September, has already delivered 10% more rain than a 50-year average, and is expected to withdraw only after early October, more than a month later than usual.

Business

WeWork throws in the towel on its ill-fated IPO

WeWork’s parent The We Company filed to withdraw its initial public offering, a week after the SoftBank-backed office-sharing startup ousted founder Adam Neumann as its chief executive officer. The withdrawal of its IPO prospectus formalizes the end of the New York-based company’s pursuit of a near-term listing and allows Neumann’s successors to proceed with the company’s financial turnaround without disclosing as much information publicly.

5 min read

Exclusive: Comcast emerges as new Google antitrust foe

Comcast, one of America’s largest media and communications companies, is wading into the epic regulatory pile-on against big tech companies such as Google, according to people familiar with the matter.

6 min read

Major U.S. investors have billions at risk in Chinese stocks

Major U.S. fund managers have tens of billion of dollars at stake in some of the most popular Chinese stocks on Wall Street, exposing them to potential losses should the White House move to delist Chinese firms from U.S. exchanges.

3 Min Read

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