PRESS DIGEST -Wall Street Journal - Aug 20
Aug 20 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - Apple Inc pulled illegal apps from its App Store in China after coming under fire from state media for not doing enough to filter out banned material. on.wsj.com/2nSmx4g- In Windsor, Ontario, angst is rising that the border town's ties to the United States auto industry, already strained by steel tariffs, could soon be ruptured by U.S. President Donald Trump's threatened tariffs on Canadian-made cars. on.wsj.com/2nNrN9c
Source:Wall Street Journal
August 20, 2018 04:18 UTC
Weinstein accuser Asia Argento made deal to pay her own sexual assault accuser, bombshell report says
The actor claimed that the assault took place in a California hotel room in 2013, according to the report. The newspaper obtained documents sent between lawyers for Argento and the accuser that laid out a payment schedule. Argento, now 42, played a prominent role in the downfall of Weinstein, the former head of Miramax. In October of last year, The New Yorker published allegations by Argento that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in 1997. Argento added that she occasionally had consensual sexual encounters with Weinstein over the years, because she felt she "had to" and "didn't want to anger him."
Source:Fox News
August 20, 2018 02:17 UTC
Armed furniture store owner fights back would-be robber in Indianapolis
An Indiana furniture store owner turned the tables on a would-be armed robber last month, pulling out his own firearm and forcing the suspect to bolt. According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the suspect walked into the store and spoke to owner Doyle Stinson on the morning of July 5. "Once he gets me back to the back room, that was a mistake," Stinson told Fox 59. Stinson told the station that he knew the would-be robber's gun wasn't loaded. When the pair got to his office, the store owner grabbed his own .40-caliber weapon.
Source:Fox News
August 20, 2018 02:15 UTC
WSJ: White House rejects Turkey's offer tying pastor's release to bank's fine relief
The rejection could lead to the US imposing additional sanctions against Turkey sometime this week, the Journal reported. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that the United States is willing to do so if Brunson isn't released. "A real NATO ally wouldn't have arrested Brunson in the first place," the senior White House official told the Journal, referencing how Turkey is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Brunson's incarceration in a Turkish prison has soured the two countries' relationship, sparking a crisis that has contributed to a sharp decline in Turkey's currency. On Friday, a Turkish high criminal court rejected Brunson's appeal to be released from house arrest and allowed to travel abroad after his appeal was rejected by a lower court.
Source:CNN
August 20, 2018 01:18 UTC
Prosecutors preparing charges for Michael Cohen; could announce by end of August
(CNN) Federal prosecutors are preparing criminal charges against President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen and could announce them by the end of the month, people familiar with the matter tell CNN. Criminal charges against Cohen would be a major setback to President Donald Trump because Cohen has long been in his inner circle. Cohen has prided himself over the years on his reputation as Trump's pit bull and once said he "would take a bullet" for Trump. Cohen has expressed a willingness to cooperate with the investigation, but it isn't clear if prosecutors are interested in a deal or what information he has to offer them. The US Attorney's office operates under the guidelines of the Justice Department, which advises against indicting a sitting president.
Source:CNN
August 20, 2018 00:34 UTC
Fortescue profit slumps, dividend slashed
SYDNEY--Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (FMG.AU) more than halved its dividend after a sharp fall in annual profit and offered more detail around plans to reinvigorate earnings by changing the type of iron ore it sells. The world's fourth-biggest exporter of iron ore on Monday recorded a 58% slump in net profit for the 12 months through June, to US$879 million. Directors declared a final dividend of 12 Australian cents (US$0.088) a share, down from a payout of A$0.25 a share a year ago. Fortescue recorded an average iron ore price of US$44 a metric ton for the year through June. Fortescue shipped 170 million metric tons of the steelmaking commodity, in line with its annual target and with prior-year shipments of 170.4 million tons.
Source:Wall Street Journal
August 20, 2018 00:33 UTC
Erdogan capitalizes on Trump’s effort to break and isolate Turkey
More than three weeks after the crisis started, the pastor, Andrew Brunson, is still under house arrest in Turkey. Turkey has also received timely displays of support from foreign allies that have undermined the Trump administration’s effort to isolate it. The feud has been costly for Turkey, pushing its currency, the lira, to record lows against the dollar. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife, Emine, greet supporters of the ruling Justice and Development Party in Ankara on Saturday. And it might not even be an economic crisis, but economic warfare by the United States,” he said.
Source:Washington Post
August 20, 2018 00:11 UTC
Avenatti, mulling WH run, tells anti-Trump Dems in New Hampshire to 'fight fire with fire'
And above all else, we will make America America again.”Avenatti arrived in New Hampshire from Florida, where he headlined a Democratic Party event in Tampa Saturday night. I don’t think [President Trump is] very quick on his feet. I don’t think he’s that intelligent and I think he’d be completely outclassed. There’s no question about that.”“I think he’s a bully and I think he doesn’t like people who punch back and I think I’d be incredibly effective against him,” Avenatti added. “I don’t think he’s very quick on his feet.
Source:Fox News
August 20, 2018 00:00 UTC
Venezuelan Crisis Escalates as President’s Economic Plans Fuel Tensions
CARACAS, Venezuela—The exodus of Venezuelans gained pace as the government’s plans to address the collapsing economy fueled anxiety, while tensions grew in neighboring countries that have strained to absorb refugees. Over the weekend, Venezuela’s battered business sector warned that President Nicolás Maduro’s plans—including a leap in the minimum wage, new taxes and a currency devaluation—would paralyze the economy and drive more people out. About 2.3 million have fled since 2014, according to United Nations estimates.
Source:Wall Street Journal
August 20, 2018 00:00 UTC
They’ll Check on You After Surgery: Meet the Times’s Crossword Puzzlers
Times Insider delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how news, features and opinion come together at The New York Times. The commenters on The New York Times’s crossword column, Wordplay, wanted to know. “I’m a little worried,” wrote Rich in Atlanta. “It’s unlike her not to show up.”Deb Amlen, who writes and edits Wordplay, sent Ms. Engle an email to see if she was O.K. When Ms. Engle reappeared, she explained she had been bedridden with a twisted knee and ankle, unable to gain access to her computer.
Source:New York Times
August 19, 2018 23:37 UTC
Are Teachers About To Be Replaced By Bots?
The team analyzed a botteacher named Botty that operated on Twitter by searching for and responding to a course-specific hashtag and keywords. A reason such as a bot’s ability to be “friendly and tireless” may do nicely. As the report conveniently points out, “It is always on, always there, and always ready.” Bots are also almost certain to be less expensive than actual teachers too. Since those who run online education programs already turn to less expensive, less experienced teachers, a bot that can do part of a teacher’s job is likely to be an enticing alternative to having any teacher whatsoever. Even so, that Botty was made, used and favorably assessed, should make clear that fears of teachers being replaced by technology are no longer hyperventilated hyperbole.
Source:Forbes
August 19, 2018 23:26 UTC
U.S. Rebuffs Effort to Tether Bank Fine to Pastor’s Release
WASHINGTON—The Trump administration has rejected an effort by Turkey to tie the release of a U.S. pastor with relief for a major Turkish bank facing billions of dollars in U.S. fines, telling Ankara other issues are off the table until the minister is freed, a senior White House official said. The jailing of Andrew Brunson has triggered the worst crisis between the two countries in decades and helped push the Turkish currency to record lows in recent months. The rejection of a possible trade sets the stage for the U.S. to...
Source:Wall Street Journal
August 19, 2018 23:26 UTC
Trump understands something that the world’s other power-hungry leaders don’t
Deputy Editorial Page EditorWe have entered an era of power-hungry, reckless and delusional leaders. They are able to do all this in part because the power that used to restrain them, the United States, has retreated from global leadership. Xi and Putin clearly calculated that the United States would not stop them, and that any subsequent punishment would be bearable. For the most part, they have been proved right — which is why Erdogan, Mohammed, Sissi and others were encouraged to imitate them. But Trump understands something that Erdogan and a few other leaders have evidently forgotten: The United States remains capable of imposing crippling punishment on regimes that wantonly challenge it.
Source:Washington Post
August 19, 2018 23:15 UTC
Israel’s Latest Culture War Plays Out Under the Wedding Canopy
“Both of us are Jewish from the ‘wrong’ side,” said Ms. Vilenchik, 25, meaning their fathers are Jewish but not their mothers. The couple rewrote their seven blessings “to be more secular, without God, God, God all the time,” Ms. Vilenchik said. Ms. Vilenchik chose not to because she was in heels. Pola Barkan, 28, director of the Cultural Brigade, a group that promotes Russian culture in Israel, married Mark Barkan, 29, in an Orthodox Rabbinate ceremony. Still, Ms. Barkan insisted on adding an eighth blessing, praying for all her friends to be able to marry without exception or exclusion.
Source:New York Times
August 19, 2018 23:12 UTC
NYT: Trump's legal team unaware of extent of McGahn's cooperation with Mueller
(CNN) President Donald Trump's legal team does not know the extent to which White House counsel Don McGahn has been cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller, The New York Times reported Sunday. The news follows a Saturday report by the Times that McGahn had been cooperating with Mueller extensively. This person said the White House never asked for a complete debriefing. Ask Rudy," a reference to Trump's current lead lawyer in the special counsel investigation, Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday morning that he had not debriefed McGahn , but nevertheless the legal team had "a good sense" of what McGahn told Mueller's team through Dowd.
Source:CNN
August 19, 2018 23:09 UTC