2017年6月7日星期三

Wednesday Morning Briefing

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A woman wears tights showing the face of Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, at a campaign rally in Birmingham, Britain June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Darren Staples

 


Iran

 

Attackers raided Iran's parliament and set off a suicide bomb at the Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran, killing up to seven people in a twin assault at the heart of the Islamic Republic, Iranian media reported. The Iranian Intelligence Ministry said security forces had arrested a "terrorist team" planning a third attack, without giving further details.

 


Washington

 

U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that he plans to nominate Christopher Wray, a former U.S. assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush now in private practice, to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

 

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the second-ranking official at the Department of Justice who signed a letter recommending former FBI director James Comey's dismissal, will testify at a Senate hearing today to face questions on the FBI’s probe into Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. election and fallout from Comey’s firing.

 

Tomorrow Comey is expected to tell the Senate Intelligence committee that U.S. President Donald Trump asked him during a meeting in the Oval Office to end the Federal Bureau of Investigation's probe into ties between former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn and Russia. Comey may also detail other conversations with Trump. But two legal experts said Comey would seek to avoid compromising a new inquiry led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller or separate congressional investigations.

 

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said the Watergate scandal ‘pales’ in comparison to events in Washington surrounding Trump and alleged links between his campaign and Russia. Clapper questioned Trump's continued pro-Russian stance, saying his sharing of intelligence with Russia "reflect either ignorance or disrespect, and either is very problematic." 

 

Documentary filmmaker and liberal activist Michael Moore launched a website called "TrumpiLeaks" to allow whistleblowers to securely leak information to him about Trump and his administration.Moore said the site was “needed to blow the whistle in the name of protecting the United States of America from tyranny” in an open letter published in the Huffington Post.

 


Qatar

 

Trump praised Middle East countries' actions against American ally Qatar over Islamist militants. But the Pentagon renewed praise of Qatar for hosting U.S. forces and its "enduring commitment to regional security." Some 8,000 U.S. military personnel are stationed at al Udeid in Qatar, the largest U.S. air base in the Middle East and a staging ground for U.S.-led strikes on the Islamic State militant group that has seized parts of Syria and Iraq.

 

Qataris banned from boarding flights to UAE: Etihad

 

UAE bans expressions of sympathy towards Qatar

 


Syria

 

A military alliance fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad said it could hit U.S. positions in Syria, warning that its "self-restraint" over U.S. air strikes on government forces would end if Washington crossed "red lines." Assad's allies also include Iran and Russia. The statement did not spell out whether Moscow was a signatory to it.

 


Philippines

 

An evacuated student shows her drawing about what she and other Marawi residents experienced before fleeing the city still under siege during a school day at Pantar elementary school in Lanao Del Norte, Philippines June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Jerome Morales

 

Philippines troops thwarted an original plan drawn up by the Islamist militants now holed up in Marawi City to "spread terror" in a rampage of violence that would have given them full control of the southern town, the military said.

 


UK elections

 

Britain entered the final day of campaigning ahead of a parliamentary election that will define its approach to leaving the European Union but has been overshadowed by two militant attacks in three weeks. The country’s top-selling newspaper, The Sun, urged its readers to vote for Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives in Thursday's snap general election. 

 

Live Coverage: UK general election 2017

 

Breakingviews podcast: The UK goes to the polls

 


Business

 

Mexico conceded to U.S. demands for changes in the terms of Mexican access to the lucrative U.S. sugar market, striking a deal with Washington that will likely lift prices of the sweetener to U.S. food processors and consumers. But sugar producers in the United States refused to endorse the agreement in principle between the two governments after pushing for even more concessions from Mexico, raising the possibility that the deal could collapse.

 

The smoothly executed rescue of Spain's struggling Banco Popular prodded European banking stocks higher in financial markets dominated by caution ahead of a trio of major events on Thursday.

Goldman Sachs’ consumer bank plans to raise the rate it offers customers on deposits to 1.2 percent, slightly higher than rivals Synchrony Bank, CIT Bank and New York Community Bank's My Banking Direct.

 

Oil prices dipped on renewed concerns about the efficacy of OPEC-led production cuts due to rising tensions within the export group over Qatar and growing U.S. output.

 

Apple customers will soon have more choices as the company looks to reduce long wait times for iPhone repairs at its retail stores. By the end of 2017, Apple will to put its proprietary machines for mending cracked iPhone glass in about 400 authorized third-party repair centers in 25 countries, company executives told Reuters.

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