Monday Morning Briefing: Harvey Weinstein trial begins in New York

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The rape trial of Harvey Weinstein, the former movie mogul who transformed the independent film world with award-winning movies like “Shakespeare in Love” and “The English Patient,” begins this week in Manhattan. Once one of Hollywood’s most powerful producers, Weinstein, 67, has pleaded not guilty to charges of assaulting two women in New York. He faces life in prison if convicted on the most serious charge, predatory sexual assault.

The head of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee said on Sunday he wants the Senate to launch an impeachment trial of President Donald Trump within days and wrap it up this month, even if it means changing Senate rules. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives last month voted to impeach Trump for abuse of power in pressuring Ukraine to investigate a political rival and for obstructing the House impeachment probe.

The Trump administration will unveil new regulations, which would limit the types of projects like highways and pipelines that require environmental review and no longer require federal agencies to weigh their climate impacts, sources familiar with the plan said.

A chain-reaction crash involving a tour bus, three tractor-trailers and a passenger car killed five people and injured about 60 others on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Pittsburgh early on Sunday, state police said. National Transportation Safety Board investigators began arriving hours later in Mount Pleasant Township, about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, to determine the cause of the pre-dawn pileup.

Thousands marched over the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City on Sunday in a show of solidarity with the area’s Jewish community following a spate of anti-Semitic violence in recent weeks, including the stabbing attack on Hanukkah celebrants at a rabbi’s home. The interfaith protest, sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League and other Jewish groups, began at Manhattan’s Foley Square before proceeding across the East River into Brooklyn for a rally at Cadman Plaza as marchers chanted, “No hate, no fear.”

World

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians thronged Tehran’s streets on Monday for the funeral of military commander Qassem Soleimani killed by a U.S. drone strike last week, and his daughter said his death would bring a “dark day” for the United States. “Crazy Trump, don’t think that everything is over with my father’s martyrdom,” Zeinab Soleimani said in an address broadcast on state television.

Japan said it could still press Lebanon to extradite Carlos Ghosn, after the former Nissan Motor boss skipped bail to become a fugitive in a country that normally does not extradite its nationals. In the Japanese government’s first briefing since Ghosn fled to his childhood home of Lebanon, Justice Minister Masako Mori gave little insight into the events of the escape, repeatedly telling reporters she could not comment on specifics because of an ongoing investigation.

Australian officials took advantage of better weather on Monday to reopen roads blocked by wildfires and move some people to safety although thick smoke stalled rescue efforts and hundreds of people remained stranded. Fires have ravaged more than 8 million hectares (19.8 million acres) of land across the country, an area nearly the size of Austria, killing 25 people, destroying thousands of building and leaving some towns without electricity and mobile coverage.

Delhi police are investigating how masked men burst into a premier university and attacked a student protest with sticks and rods, an officer said on Monday, the latest incident to ignite criticism of India’s ruling Hindu nationalists. Sunday’s attack at a university long seen as a bastion of left-wing politics comes as students nationwide lead a campaign against a citizenship law introduced last month by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that is seen as targeting Muslims.

Business

Defying gravity? What could bring U.S. stocks down to earth

The U.S. stock market’s relentless drive higher has caused some nail-biting on Wall Street that the rally is about to end. Geopolitical risks – such as the latest escalation of U.S. tensions with Iran - are just one on a list of worries for 2020.

7 min read

Fed focuses on repo market exit strategy after avoiding year-end crunch

Wall Street’s worst fears of a year-end funding squeeze never materialized thanks in large part to the quarter-trillion dollars the Federal Reserve stuffed into the market to ensure nothing became gummed up.

5 min read

Trump administration pressed Dutch hard to cancel China chip-equipment sale

The Trump administration mounted an extensive campaign to block the sale of Dutch chip manufacturing technology to China, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lobbying the Netherlands government and White House officials sharing a classified intelligence report with the country’s Prime Minister, people familiar with the effort told Reuters.

7 min read

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