BitGou: Wednesday Briefing: Special Report - How AT&T helped build far-right One America News

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

by Linda Noakes

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Tesla faces an investor test after a big jury award over racism, New Zealand joins the great central bank exit, and is a 'traffic light' coalition on the cards in Germany?

Today's biggest stories

FILE PHOTO: MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is interviewed by the One America News Network during former U.S. President Donald Trump's rally at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Wellington, Ohio, June 26, 2021. REUTERS/Gaelen Morse

U.S.

One America News, the far-right network whose fortunes and viewership rose amid the triumph and tumult of the Trump administration, has flourished with support from a surprising source: AT&T, the world's largest communications company. Read our special report.

Senate Democrats are set to try again today to extend the U.S. government's borrowing authority to head off a catastrophic default, after President Joe Biden suggested they could change the chamber's rules to bypass a Republican roadblock. So what is the Senate filibuster and why is everyone talking about it?

Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told Arizona's governor that his state could not use federal funds to pay for programs aimed at undermining face mask requirements in schools, and said Arizona could lose funding if it did not change course.

Nearly 840,000 children under the age of four have contracted COVID-19 in the United States, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We spoke to the mother of an Illinois toddler fighting for his life as transmission rages.

Missouri executed convicted murderer Ernest Johnson after both Governor Mike Parson and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant the clemency sought by Pope Francis, among others, on the grounds that Johnson was intellectually disabled.

Taiwan honor guards perform during a national day rehearsal in Taipei, October 5, 2021. REUTERS/Ann Wang

WORLD

Military tensions with China are at their worst in more than 40 years, Taiwan's defense minister said, promoting a new arms spending package to lawmakers days after record numbers of Chinese aircraft flew into the island's air defense zone. Biden said that he has spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping about Taiwan and they agreed to abide by the "Taiwan agreement".

Germany's Greens and business-friendly Free Democrats have agreed to begin three-way talks with the centre-left Social Democrats on forming a new coalition government following a national election late last month. The talks will take Germany a step closer towards a so-called 'traffic light' coalition, named for the three parties' colors.

Hundreds of Afghans flocked to the passport office in Kabul, just a day after news that it would re-open this week to issue the documents, while Taliban security men had to beat back some in the crowd in efforts to maintain order.

Philippines human rights groups staged protests to denounce an attempt by the son and namesake of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos to return his family to power by vying for the presidency. Marcos, accompanied by wife and two sons, filed his candidacy for presidential elections in 2022, further shaking up an already polarised political landscape.

German Benjamin List and Scottish-born David MacMillan won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing new tools for building molecules that have helped make new drugs and are more environmentally friendly.

BUSINESS

A contract worker has won a $137 million jury award over workplace racism against Tesla, raising pressure on the electric vehicle maker whose shareholders will vote tomorrow on a proposal to review how it addresses similar complaints for full-time employees.

New Zealand's central bank hiked interest rates for the first time in seven years and signaled further tightening to come, as it looks to get on top of inflationary pressures and cool a red-hot housing market. The country is the second major developed economy to raise rates and one of several to dial back hefty stimulus unleashed in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

Stablecoins would have to comply with the same safeguards as their more traditional competitors in payments under proposals from regulators as authorities get to grips with a rapidly evolving sector. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to have a stable value relative to traditional currencies, or to a commodity such as gold.

When he was a child in Avila province, Albert Pascual's father bought 100 pigs, but the company he now leads has more than 9,000 - part of a major expansion that has put Spain on track to take over as the European Union's top pork producer this year.

Eighteen months in loungewear while remote working during the pandemic have left professionals all over Europe hankering for fresh wardrobes as they embrace hybrid working. It is a boon for hard-hit retailers.

Quote of the day

"When there's drilling, there will be spilling"

Alan Lowenthal

Democratic Congressman from California

California lawmakers aim to ban offshore drilling

Video of the day

Facebook "operating in the shadows", says whistleblower

Frances Haugen called for transparency about how the social media giant entices users to extend their stay on the site.

And finally…

London's finance district, steeped in slavery, confronts its past

Exhibitions will shine a light on the fortunes coined off a barbarous system and the role played by some of the City’s most venerable grandees in keeping it afloat.