BitGou: Monday Morning Briefing: Standoff over border wall puts Congress in a 'pickle'

Highlights

A feud between President Donald Trump and Congress over funding his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall gives lawmakers only five days to find a compromise and avert a partial shutdown of some government agencies that could leave about a quarter of the federal workforce without paychecks at Christmastime.

Saudi Arabia denounced U.S. Senate resolutions calling for an end to U.S. military support for the war in Yemen and blaming Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying they were based on unsubstantiated claims. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking in an interview that aired on Sunday, said for the first time that his Liberal government was looking for a way out of a multibillion-dollar arms deal with Saudi Arabia.

Work four days a week, but get paid for five? It sounds too good to be true, but companies around the world that have cut their work week have found that it leads to higher productivity, more motivated staff and less burnout.

U.S.-China trade

The United States said that China’s “unfair competitive practices” were harming foreign companies and workers in a way that violates World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, but said that Washington would lead reform efforts.

The United States has welcomed Chinese concessions since the two declared a trade war truce in early December, but trade experts and people familiar with negotiations say Beijing needs to do far more to meet U.S. demands for long-term change in how China does business.

World

Malaysia said it has filed criminal charges at home against Goldman Sachs and two of the U.S. bank’s former employees in connection with a corruption and money laundering probe at state fund 1MDB.

A ceasefire agreed between Yemen’s warring parties in Hodeidah will begin on Dec. 18, sources from both sides and the United Nations said on Sunday, to try to avert more bloodshed in a port city vital for food and aid supplies.

Clashes in Nigeria between farmers and semi-nomadic herders have killed more than 3,600 people since 2016, most of them this year, Amnesty International said, in a report documenting an upsurge in violence that could sway the results of February 2019 elections.

Reuters Top News

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.@Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been imprisoned in Myanmar for one year. Follow updates on the case: https://reut.rs/2Ep5WOX

7:13 AM - 17 Dec 2018

UK

A second Brexit referendum would do “irreparable damage” to politics and “break faith” with the British people, Prime Minister Theresa May will say, rejecting what some see as the only way to break an impasse. The British Prime Minister is seeking the “extra assurances” needed to get parliament’s backing for her deal to leave the European Union, her spokesman said.

Commentary: British Prime Minister Theresa May, who took office after the 2016 Brexit referendum, inherited the thankless task of “unpicking 45 years of laws, regulations and habits, while trying to keep the country together and get a deal through parliament,” writers columnist John Lloyd. The process has been prolonged torture – for May and her party, for EU leaders in Brussels, and for members of the British public, no matter where they stand on the wisdom of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union.

Business

Foxconn not in settlement talks with Qualcomm in Apple battle - attorney

The lead attorney for the group of Apple device assemblers seeking at least $9 billion in damages from Qualcomm said the contract manufacturers are not in settlement talks with the mobile chip supplier and are “gearing up and heading toward the trial” in April.

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Google to spend $1 billion to establish new campus in New York

Alphabet’s Google said that it is investing over $1 billion to establish a new campus in New York city, as it expands its presence in the city’s technology corridor along the Hudson River.

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U.S. banks quietly pull back from riskiest loans amid recession fears

As U.S. bank stocks tanked this month over fears of an impending recession, industry executives downplayed concerns to colleagues, analysts and journalists, arguing that the economy is in great shape. But looking behind headline numbers showing healthy loan books, problems appear to be cropping up in areas such as home-equity lines of credit, commercial real estate and credit cards, according to federal data reviewed by Reuters.

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Boeing increases value for Embraer's commercial business to $5.26 billion

Brazil’s Embraer said it had finalised the terms of a proposed deal to sell 80 percent of its commercial aviation business to Boeing, now valuing the division at $5.26 billion. As originally announced in July, the deal valued Embraer’s commercial division at $4.75 billion.

2 min read