BitGou: Wednesday Morning Briefing: Trump and Democrats jockey for position in deepening impeachment battle

Highlights

The House of Representatives was set on Wednesday to step up its impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump over his dealings with Ukraine, as the White House declared it would not cooperate with the probe. The three congressional committees leading the inquiry were working on final arrangements to interview a U.S. intelligence officer who filed the whistleblower complaint that triggered the probe.

Johnson & Johnson must pay $8 billion in punitive damages to a man who previously won $680,000 over his claims that it failed to warn that young men using its antipsychotic drug Risperdal could grow breasts, a Philadelphia jury said on Tuesday. The verdict in favor of Nicholas Murray came in the first case in which a Pennsylvania jury had been able to consider awarding punitive damages in one of thousands of Risperdal cases pending in the state.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared closely divided over whether a landmark federal law forbidding sex discrimination in the workplace protects gay and transgender employees, with conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch emerging as a potential decisive vote. The nine justices heard two hours of high-profile arguments in three cases that could broaden LGBT rights involving three workers who sued after being fired by their employers.

China is planning tighter visa restrictions for U.S. nationals with ties to anti-China groups, people with knowledge of the proposed curbs said, following similar U.S. restrictions on Chinese nationals, as relations between the countries sour. China’s Ministry of Public Security has for months been working on rules to limit the ability of anyone employed, or sponsored, by U.S. intelligence services and human rights groups to travel to China.

World

Turkish forces and Syrian rebel allies will cross the Syrian border “shortly” a Turkish official said on Wednesday, as a surprise withdrawal of U.S. troops made way for the Turkish incursion. Turkey has been poised to advance into northeast Syria since the U.S. troops began vacating the area in an abrupt policy shift by U.S. President Donald Trump widely criticized in Washington as a betrayal of America’s Kurdish militia allies.

Hundreds of black clad pro-democracy demonstrators outside Hong Kong’s High Court on Wednesday chanted “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times”, as a leading activist appeared to appeal a six-year jail sentence for rioting in 2016. The court’s walls were scrawled with graffiti reading: “History will absolve us”, “If we burn you burn with us” and “No turn back 4HK”.

The United Nations may not have enough money for staff salaries next month if member states don’t pay what they owe, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Tuesday. He told the 193-member U.N. General Assembly’s budget committee that if he had not worked since January to cut spending then “we would not have had the liquidity to support” the annual gathering of world leaders last month.

Thousands of people are rushing to climb Australia’s Uluru ignoring the calls of indigenous people to stay off what they consider a sacred monolith, before the ascent is permanently banned at the end of the month. Visitors will no longer be able to scale the Australian landmark, formerly known as Ayers Rock, from Oct. 26, following a decades-long campaign by indigenous communities to protect it.

Business

Fed's Powell says U.S. expansion is 'sustainable'

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday flagged openness to further rate cuts to fend off global economic risks, repeating that the central bank will act “as appropriate” amid an economy that he said is likely to continue to expand. Twice in the 1990s, he said, the economy similarly downshifted, only to gain steam once the Fed cut interest rates a few times.

5 min read

UAW union pushes GM to boost U.S. auto production

The United Auto Workers union’s top negotiator in talks with General Motors to resolve a more than three-week strike said late Tuesday a key issue separating the two sides is job security. The strike has cost GM more than $1 billion and forced it to idle operations in Canada and Mexico.

4 Min Read

Exclusive: Airbus defense unit sees cash challenge, adopts efficiency plan

Airbus Defence and Space has issued an internal warning of significant challenges in meeting cashflow and other targets for 2019 as it rolls out an internal efficiency plan called “Momentum”. It is the second time in as many years the group’s second largest division has been forced to urge its 33,000 staff to save more cash in the final quarter of the year, a period when government customers are often slow in finalizing payments.

3 min read

Investors get lost in Big Oil's carbon accounting maze

Wide variations in the way oil companies report their efforts to reduce carbon emissions make it difficult to assess the risk of holding their shares as the world shifts away from fossil fuels, senior fund managers say. There is a growing realization that some companies’ profits will shrink faster than others as governments prioritize low-carbon energy.

3 min read