BitGou: Monday Morning Briefing: U.S. diplomats to testify about Trump-Ukraine efforts as Democrats build impeachment case

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A parade of U.S. diplomats will head to Capitol Hill for closed-door testimony this week as Democrats build their impeachment case against President Donald Trump, while the White House considers ways to slow down the process. The interviews could yield more fodder for Democrats’ impeachment drive over a whistleblower’s allegations that Trump leveraged $400 million in aid to secure a promise from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate political rival Joe Biden, and his son Hunter.

The United States said it was pulling troops from northeast Syria, in a major shift which clears the way for a Turkish military offensive against Kurdish-led forces and hands Turkey responsibility for thousands of Islamic State captives. A U.S. official said American troops had withdrawn from two observation posts on the border and had told the commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that the United States would not defend the SDF from an imminent Turkish offensive.

Protest-scarred Hong Kong struggled to recover on Monday after scores of people were arrested in violent clashes overnight and as the last British governor of the Chinese-ruled city warned that people could be killed. “Before long, unless we are very, very lucky, people are going to get killed, people are going to be shot,” Chris Patten said. Meanwhile, the National Basketball Association came under fire for its response to a tweet by a Houston Rockets official in support of the Hong Kong protests.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, trying to revive his electoral fortunes after the emergence of embarrassing photographs, used the first televised campaign debate on Wednesday to launch repeated attacks on his main rival. Polls suggest Trudeau’s left-leaning Liberals could lose power to the opposition Conservatives of Andrew Scheer on Oct. 21 amid voter unhappiness with images of Trudeau in blackface, as well as other scandals.

Environment

Mapping the world's growing plastic mountain, one bottle at a time. It’s one thing to say the world is drowning in plastic. It’s another to show it. The Reuters Graphics team wanted to create a way for people to visualize the scale of that waste - see the interactive graphic and find out how they made it here.

Police have so far arrested 21 climate activists at the start of two weeks of planned peaceful civil disobedience in London that will call for urgent government action to curb carbon emissions. The protests, which organizers expect to bring 10,000 people to the British capital, are part of what Extinction Rebellion activists call an “international rebellion”, with similar actions taking part in Australia, the Netherlands and elsewhere.

Consumer goods giant Unilever vowed to halve the amount of new plastic it uses over the next five years, by shifting to more recyclable and alternative materials and refillable options to meet consumer demand for less waste. The company, which sells Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Dove soap, said it would achieve this target by cutting its use of plastic packaging by over 100,000 tonnes and accelerating its use of recycled plastic.

Business

Talks between UAW and GM take 'turn for the worse'

Talks for a new four-year labor contract between General Motors and its striking workers took a “turn for the worse” on Sunday after the United Auto Workers rejected the largest U.S. automaker’s latest offer but the two sides were still talking. The GM strike began on Sept. 16 with its 48,000 UAW members seeking higher pay, greater job security, a bigger share of the automaker’s profit and protection of healthcare benefits

4 min read

Low inflation? Nothing to worry about, Fed's George says

Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George on Sunday rejected the notion that the central bank should cut interest rates to try to boost low inflation, which she said is largely a result of global forces that U.S. monetary policy can do little to counter. In fact, she suggested, inflation could sink to well below the Fed’s 2% target and she might remain unfazed.

3 Min Read

German recession looms as industrial orders drop more than expected

German industrial orders fell more than expected in August on weaker domestic demand, data showed on Monday, adding to signs that a manufacturing slump is pushing Europe’s largest economy into recession.

3 min read

As Softbank's Oyo booms, some Indian hotels cry foul and check out

Oyo Hotels and Homes shot out of nowhere to become one of the world’s largest hotel chains with a simple promise of “hassle-free” online booking, transparent pricing and cheerful lodging. But as the Softbank-backed startup pushes toward profitability, an increasing number of Indian hotel operators who have partnered with it are complaining about being blindsided by fee increases.

7 min read