BitGou: Wednesday Morning Briefing: Trump says he stands by Saudi crown prince despite pleas from Senate

POLITICS

In an exclusive interview, President Trump provided Reuters with perhaps his most explicit show of support for Saudi Arabia's crown prince since the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi more than two months ago. This comes despite pleas from U.S. senators for Trump to condemn the kingdom’s de facto ruler. He also said that hush payments made to two women ahead of the 2016 election did not violate campaign finance laws, adding that he thinks "the people would revolt" if he were to be impeached.

Former Trump adviser Micheal Flynn has requested a sentence of a year's probation for lying to FBI agents in a case stemming from a probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. The retired Army general's lawyers made the case that he was not warned before a meeting with FBI agents that it was a crime to lie to them. He will be sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Dec. 18.

Ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen is set to be sentenced today for his role in the payment of hush money to women who said they had affairs with Trump and for lying to Congress about a proposed Trump Tower project in Russia that was discussed during the 2016 election campaign. The sentencing will cap the stunning about-face of a lawyer who once said he would “take a bullet” for Trump but has now directly implicated the president in criminal conduct.

Myanmar

Today marks one year that Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been imprisoned in Myanmar. In September 2017 they exposed a massacre of Muslims by soldiers and civilians. They were set up and falsely arrested on December 12th 2017. More than 100 Myanmar activists observed the anniversary by releasing balloons at a rally in the country’s largest city Yangon. “The fact that they remain in prison for a crime they did not commit calls into question Myanmar’s commitment to democracy, freedom of expression and rule of law,” said Reuters editor-in-chief Stephen J. Adler. Read the story that prompted their arrest here.

Time's 'Person of Year' goes to journalists, including Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. The publication also honoured slain Saudi Arabian writer Jamal Khashoggi, the founder of a Philippines news website critical of the country’s authoritarian government Maria Ressa and the staff of the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, where a gunman shot and killed five people in June.

Andrew RC Marshall

@Journotopia

Our jailed Reuters colleagues Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have spent a year in jail for a crime they didn't commit. We cannot see them, but they are still with us. And we are still with them. Here's why. #FreeWaLoneKyawSoeOo

1:22 AM - 12 Dec 2018

world

The UK Conservative Party has triggered a confidence vote in PM Theresa May's leadership. In order to remain leader of the party, she will need a majority vote of confidence from all Conservative MPs that place a ballot. The vote is due to happen between 1800 GMT and 2000 on Wednesday, Dec. 12. She has vowed to fight on, saying a change now would delay or even imperil Britain’s planned divorce from the European Union.

French police hunt Strasbourg Christmas market attacker. Security forces searched through eastern France on Wednesday for a man suspected of killing three people in an attack on a Christmas market in Strasbourg and who was known to have been religiously radicalized while in jail.

Commentary: Why is the EU still so determined to save the Iran nuclear deal? The answer lies in European fears of the security and economic consequences if the JCPOA collapses – and perhaps also in how Tehran might be able to pressure Europe to salvage the deal, writes columnist Maysam Behravesh. European powers seem to be less concerned about a nuclear Iran per se than what would happen if the United States or Israel and its Arab allies went to war to prevent that outcome.

Business

Canada frees CFO of China's Huawei on bail

Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer was granted bail by a Canadian court on Tuesday, 10 days after her arrest in Vancouver at the request of U.S. authorities. Meng's arrest has put a further dampener on Chinese relations with the United States and Canada at a time when tensions were already high.

5 min read

Don't contact our board members, Renault tells Nissan

Renault told alliance partner Nissan to stop contacting the French company’s directors ahead of a Thursday board meeting as the Japanese automaker tried to share evidence of wrongdoing by its ousted chairman Carlos Ghosn, two sources said.

4 Min Read

Amazon aims at office workers with compact cashier-less food store

Amazon has opened a compact version of its cashier-less Amazon Go food stores, broadening its footprint in the bricks-and-mortar world. Gianna Puerini, vice president of Amazon Go, said the tiny format could serve office lobbies, communal floors inside tall buildings and perhaps a hospital.

2 min read