Friday Morning Briefing: Iran vows to avenge U.S. killing of top commander Soleimani

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Iran threatened to hit back hard after a U.S. air strike in Baghdad killed Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force and architect of its growing military influence in the Middle East. Soleimani, a general, was regarded as the second most powerful figure in Iran after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The overnight attack, authorized by President Donald Trump, marked a dramatic escalation in a “shadow war” in the Middle East between Iran and the United States and its allies, principally Israel and Saudi Arabia.

U.S. President Donald Trump will hold a campaign event in a Miami megachurch on Friday to shore up support from Christian conservatives, after a prominent evangelical publication questioned whether the faithful should support the Republican. The event by Trump at the 7,000-capacity King Jesus International Ministry church has drawn fresh attention to his administration’s ties to “prosperity gospel” preachers who tell followers that generous donations to their churches will be rewarded on Earth with wealth, health and power.

The Trump administration said it filed paperwork to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, the first formal step in a one-year process to exit the global pact to fight climate change. The move is part of a broader strategy by President Donald Trump to reduce red tape on American industry, but comes at a time scientists and many world governments urge rapid action to avoid the worst impacts of global warming.

A U.S. appeals court is set to hear arguments in a bid by President Donald Trump’s administration to block former White House Counsel Don McGahn from testifying to a congressional committee as part of the impeachment effort. The case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit arises from the Democratic-led House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s lawsuit aiming to enforce an April subpoena seeking testimony from McGahn about Trump’s efforts to impede former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe that documented Russian interference in the 2016 election.

U.S. Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden took in $22.7 million in the last three months of 2019, his campaign said in a statement on Thursday, a pickup in fundraising just weeks before voters kick off the party’s nominating process. The figure marks the best fundraising quarter for the former vice president since his campaign launched in April, and represents a rebound from the July-to-September quarter, when Biden netted $15.2 million.

World

Authorities urged Australians to evacuate parts of the eastern states of Victoria and New South Wales to escape bushfires they fear are set to burn out of control this weekend. In a harbinger of the searing conditions expected, a number of fires burnt out of control in South Australia as temperatures topped 40 degrees C (104 F) across much of the state and strong winds fanned flames.

A Turkish private jet operator said that ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn used two of its planes illegally in his escape from Japan, with an employee falsifying lease records to exclude his name from the documents. MNG Jet said it had filed a criminal complaint over the incident, a day after Turkish police detained seven people, including four pilots, as part of an investigation into Ghosn’s passage through Istanbul en route to Lebanon.

Indonesia will carry out cloud seeding in a bid to prevent further rainfall over the capital Jakarta, after deadly flash floods and landslides following some of the heaviest rains ever recorded. The death toll in Jakarta and surrounding areas rose to 43 as of Friday, the country’s disaster mitigation agency said, while tens of thousands of people have been displaced. The toll increased from 30 on Thursday night.

Pakistan’s government on Friday introduced legislation to extend the tenure of the army chief in line with a Supreme Court order that it must justify its wish to see the top commander stay on in the job for an extra three years. The government of Prime Minister Imran Khan approved an extension for General Qamar Javed Bajwa in August, citing a worsening national security situation in the region over its rivalry with India.

Business

U.S. farmers see another bleak year despite Phase 1 trade deal

Across snow-covered North Dakota, U.S. farmers are stuck with fields full of weather-damaged corn - a crop they planted after the U.S.-China trade war killed their soybean market. Many don’t know yet what crops they’ll plant next season among a host of dicey options.

8 min read

Ryanair CEO says group may not get 737 MAX until October

Ryanair may only receive its first delivery of the grounded 737 MAX aircraft from Boeing in October, chief executive Michael O’Leary said in an interview with German magazine Wirtschaftswoche. The 737 MAX, Boeing’s fastest-selling aircraft, has not flown since last March following two crashes which claimed 346 lives. O’Leary told Reuters last month that Ryanair may not receive any MAX aircraft in time for its summer season.

2 min read

HSBC to stop weekend, overnight services at some Hong Kong ATMs after branches vandalized

HSBC will suspend overnight services at 19 ATM clusters in Hong Kong on weekends and public holidays, the bank said on Friday, two days after its branches and ATMs were targeted during anti-government protests. Hong Kong is the bank’s single most important market, accounting for just over half of its $12.5 billion pre-tax profits in the first half of 2019.

2 min read

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