Thursday Morning Briefing: Legal experts called by Democrats tell Congress that Trump's actions are impeachable

Highlights

Three legal experts told U.S. lawmakers that President Donald Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate a political rival amounted to impeachable offenses, in a hearing that laid the groundwork for formal charges to be filed against the president. The framers of the 232-year-old U.S. Constitution played a central role in Wednesday’s impeachment hearing as constitutional law professors outlined the case for, and against, ousting Trump.

NATO leaders set aside public insults ranging from “delinquent” to “brain dead” and “two-faced” on Wednesday, declaring at a 70th anniversary summit they would stand together against a common threat from Russia and prepare for China’s rise.

A U.S. Navy sailor on Wednesday shot and killed two civilians working at Hawaii’s historic military base of Pearl Harbor, and injured a third, military officials said, before fatally shooting himself.

Tariffs must be cut if China and the United States are to reach an interim agreement on trade, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday, sticking to its stance that some U.S. tariffs must be rolled back for a phase one deal.

The United States has completed its military pullback in northeastern Syria, settling into a more stable posture of about 600 troops in the rest of the country after repositioning and reducing forces, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said.

World

Israel’s foreign minister said on Thursday that he hopes Jeremy Corbyn loses next week’s British election, citing allegations of anti-Semitism buffeting the Labour Party leader. With Israel in political disarray of its own after two inconclusive elections, the British contest has elicited few comments from Israeli leaders despite deep concern among British Jews over Corbyn and media reports that some might opt to emigrate if he wins.

Railway workers, teachers and emergency room medics launched one of the biggest public sector strikes in France for decades on Thursday, determined to force President Emmanuel Macron to abandon plans to overhaul France’s generous pension system.

Tetsu Nakamura, the Japanese doctor and aid worker killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday, was inspired to make the country’s deserts green by the deaths of children in a clinic he ran in a drought-stricken rural area. His death in an attack by unknown gunmen who riddled the car he and five others were driving with bullets left both Afghanistan and Japan in mourning.

Water levels at the iconic Victoria Falls, on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, are running low after a prolonged drought affecting much of southern Africa.

Business

Gazing into the recession crystal ball

The protracted trade war between China and the United States and a deteriorating global growth outlook have left investors nervous that the longest expansion in American history is at risk of ending. Here are some indicators that investors watch for signs of economic health.

8 min read

GM, LG Chem to announce EV battery joint venture in Ohio

South Korea’s LG Chem said on Thursday it would invest $916 million in its U.S. subsidiary by 2023 to set up an electric vehicle battery joint venture with General Motors.

3 min read

OPEC and allies prepare to deepen oil output cuts

OPEC and its allies led by Russia were moving closer on Thursday to agreeing to deeper oil supply cuts next year to support crude prices and prevent a glut, sources from OPEC and its allied producers said.

4 min read

Huawei appeals against U.S. ban on rural carrier customers accessing subsidies

China’s Huawei has mounted a legal challenge against the U.S. Federal Communications Commission after the body designated the technology giant as a security threat and moved to bar it from a government subsidy program.

4 min read

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