TheChek News Flow

NY TIMES (Saturday): During a call in July, Donald Trump called on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former vice president Joseph Biden’s son, according to a person familiar with the conversation, an apparently blatant mixture of foreign policy with his 2020 re-election campaign; +/- FB: Social site’s suspension of tens of thousands of apps for improperly accessing personal information was a tacit admission that the scale of its data privacy issues was far larger than it had previously acknowledged; The F.B.I. has used secret subpoenas to obtain personal data from far more companies than previously disclosed, newly released documents show, including usernames, locations, IP addresses and records of purchases; Kim Myong-gil, North Korea’s new envoy to nuclear talks with the U.S., welcomed the ouster of National Security Adviser, John Bolton, and Trump’s suggestion he would use a “new method” in negotiating with the Pyongyang; German chancellor Angela Merkel’s government agreed to support a $60B package of climate policies aimed at helping Germany meet its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030; California, joined by 22 other states and the District of Columbia, filed suit against the Trump administration for its unprecedented legal reversal of states’ authority to establish their own rules on climate-warming tailpipe emissions; India once had the world’s fastest-growing economy—manufacturing everything from underwear to cars—but it has been battered by global and domestic forces, and its troubles are a warning sign for other developing countries; +/- Airbnb: Interviews with current and former employees and investors reveal the company’s 6,000-person work force has become increasingly frustrated by not being able to cash in stock that was received in compensation packages, and waiting for the IPO has become a growing source of stress; +/- AMZN, AAPL, FB, GOOGL: The House Judiciary Committee asked more than 80 companies for information about how their businesses may have been harmed by the tech giants, according to sources, a sign Congress is increasing the scope of its investigation into Silicon Valley’s power; Trump said China was a “threat to the world” and suggested Beijing was eager to make a trade deal because his tariffs were hurting the Chinese economy, comments that come as the two countries prepare to resume negotiations; (Sunday): Allegations that Trump courted foreign interference from Ukraine to damage Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden prompted Biden to demand a House investigation of Trump’s phone call with Ukraine’s leader and Trump to call the whole thing a “witch hunt”; As China presented itself as a partner for El Salvador’s future, Trump may have played into Beijing’s hands by offering little beyond threats to the Central American nation and its neighbors for not doing enough to curb migration, though it has shifted to criticizing China’s legacy in the developing world; Democratic presidential contender Elizabeth Warren is the new Iowa polling leader, narrowly in first place ahead of former vice president Joe Biden, according to a new poll of the state from The Des Moines Register and CNN; Sunday Business: Lead story says that Silicon Valley tech companies, which long gave workers purpose, optimism, and self-confidence now find that staff are anxious about a number of things, prompting the launch of therapy start-ups that offer familiar care along with streamlined paperwork, data-driven approaches, and “happiness analysis”; Magazine: In an opinion piece, former vice president Al Gore, says the climate crisis is the battle of our time, and that the tools and political power necessary to create change are in place to win the battle.