Top News Stories for Today – Mar 20, 2019
Top News Stories for Today – Mar 20, 2019
Trump linking Huawei to China trade talk
President Donald Trump shocked some last month when he suggested that the criminal charges against Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, might be used as leverage in his administration’s ongoing trade talks with China.
“We’re going to be discussing all of that during the course of the next couple of weeks,” Trump told reporters at the White House Feb. 22 in response to a question about Meng’s case. “We’ll be talking to the US attorneys. We’ll be talking to the attorney general. We’ll be making that decision. Right now, it’s not something we’ve discussed.” The president’s apparent willingness to possibly barter away the prosecution of Huawei and one of its executives in exchange for a favorable trade deal with China alarmed legal experts who say it could lead to pushback at the Justice Department. The Voice of America
US seeks regional support in Middle East
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the Middle East for regional security talks in Kuwait, Israel and Lebanon as Washington looks to draw new support in its opposition to Iranian aggression. After Kuwait, Pompeo will travel to Israel and meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government is headed to a tough April 9 re-election contest as Netanyahu is embroiled in a corruption investigation and facing allegations of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
Pompeo said that on his third stop, in Beirut, “we’ll spend a lot of time talking with the Lebanese government about how we can help them disconnect from the threat that Iran and Hezbollah present to them.” The Voice of America
EU fines Google $1.7 billion
European Union regulators have hit Google with a 1.49 billion Euro ($1.68 billion) fine for abusing its dominant role in online advertising. It’s the third time the commission has slapped Google with an antitrust penalty, following multibillion-dollar fines resulting from separate probes into two other parts of the Silicon Valley giant’s business.
The commission found that Google and its parent company, Alphabet, breached EU antitrust rules by imposing restrictive clauses in contracts with websites that used AdSense, preventing Google rivals from placing their ads on these sites. The Associated Press
West Virginia AG sues Catholic diocese
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey sued the Catholic diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and its former bishop Michael J. Bransfield on Tuesday, charging that they “knowingly employed pedophiles and failed to conduct adequate background checks” for people working in Catholic schools and camps, a news release from Morrisey’s office says.
The lawsuit, the latest dramatic civil action against the American church in the past year, alleges violations of the state’s consumer protection laws. It accuses the diocese of advertising safe environments for children while at the same time, the complaint says, choosing “to cover up and conceal arguably criminal behavior of child sexual abuse.” The Washington Post
Disney closes $71b 21st Century Fox deal
Disney officially finalized its $71.3 billion purchase of 21st Century Fox early Wednesday morning. The company’s new assets include Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox Family, Fox Animation, Twentieth Century Fox Television, the FX and National Geographic channels, Star India, and Fox’s interest in Hulu, Variety reports. “This is an extraordinary and historic moment for us — one that will create significant long-term value for our company and our shareholders,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement.
Through the purchase, Disney said it plans to “increase its international footprint” and “expand its direct-to-consumer offerings.” With Iger at the helm, Disney purchased Pixar in 2006 for $7.4 billion, acquired Marvel Entertainment in 2010 for $4 billion, and bought Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4 billion. Variety via The Week
UN calls Idai is one of the worst storms
Cyclone Idai may be one of the worst weather disasters ever recorded in the southern hemisphere, U.N. experts say, with Mozambique suffering the brunt of the storm. Idai tore across Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe late last week, leaving behind a trail of devastation, including more than 350 people killed, hundreds missing, and hundreds of thousands homeless.
Mozambique’s death toll exceeded 200 Tuesday, President Filipe Nyusi said, after saying earlier the final number of dead could top 1,000. Officials say the cyclone created an “inland ocean” across the country. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies called the damage to the coastal city of Beira “massive and horrifying.” They estimate 90 percent of the city was destroyed. The Voice of America