Flagship

Trump due in court

Donald Trump was scrambling to find a lawyer to represent him for his court appearance in Miami today over his indictment for mishandling classified documents. The last-minute effort was in keeping with other moments of Trump’s career: The former president has repeatedly swapped out lawyers in recent years. He may benefit from the judge in the case having ruled deferentially to him in the past. Yet unquestioning Republican loyalty to Trump may be shifting. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, one of Trump’s challengers for the party’s presidential nomination, adopted a harsher tone over the case, while National Review, a conservative magazine, argued, “Donald Trump’s continued political career is an enormous waste of the political energy of the conservative movement.”

US regulators try to stem Microsoft deal

U.S. competition regulators asked a federal court to block Microsoft from closing its mammoth acquisition of the video-game maker Activision. The deal was approved by European authorities, but blocked by Britain’s watchdog, and faces an antitrust lawsuit in the United States. The latest legal move is in addition to the lawsuit, part of the Federal Trade Commission’s argument that the $75 billion merger — key to Microsoft’s plans to significantly expand the nascent but fast-growing cloud gaming sector — would stifle competition in the broader industry. It says that giving Microsoft control of a major games developer would enable it to command how gamers beyond its Xbox system accessed entertainment.

Top Russian general killed

A Russian general was killed in a missile strike, at least the fifth to die in Ukraine since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion. Sergey Goryachev’s death in southern Donetsk highlights early progress in Kyiv’s counteroffensive and the limited options available to Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russia’s general staff, according to the retired Australian general Mick Ryan: He can wait and see how Ukraine’s strategy plays out, or he can take the politically tough but militarily effective choice of pulling back. “There is an old saying that ‘when your enemy is making mistakes, don’t get in their way’,” Ryan wrote. “Gerasimov has shown an aptitude for making strategic mistakes.”

Hydrogen’s climate downside

A new study suggests that hydrogen energy could be less efficient at reducing climate change than thought. The paper modeled how hydrogen behaves in the atmosphere, finding that some fraction of the gas will leak into the atmosphere during energy production and as a result contribute to the increase of the greenhouse gas methane. The study suggested that hydrogen could therefore be as much as 11 times as potent at warming the Earth than carbon dioxide. If large parts of the economy run on hydrogen-stored energy, it would be vital to prevent leaks, or much of the benefit of moving away from fossil fuels could be undone.

EU considers AI law

EU lawmakers will discuss the world’s first law to regulate artificial intelligence today. They seek to categorize AI systems based on threat levels and regulate the most risky ones accordingly, The Economist reported. Although the AI Act, as the bill is known, would likely not come into effect until 2025, several firms may end up complying with the rules before it is fully in force. Sam Altman, who runs the company behind ChatGPT, backtracked last month on a threat to leave the EU for fears it was “over-regulating” AI. “We are excited to continue to operate here and of course have no plans to leave,” Altman said.

EU pushes Latam trade deal

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen vowed in Brazil that the EU and Mercosur, South America’s biggest trading bloc, would sign a long-delayed trade agreement by the end of the year. “The EU is back,” von der Leyen said. As part of the agreement, the EU expects assurances that Brazilian exports — especially of beef, of which Brazil is the biggest producer — will not be the cause of greater Amazon deforestation. If environmental norms are breached, which they most likely will be, the EU could curtail agricultural trade. In response, Brazil’s president said “the premise between strategic partners has to be one of mutual trust, not distrust and sanctions.”

Markets predict US rate pause

The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to pause its cycle of interest-rate hikes following a two-day meeting beginning today. What comes next is more complicated. The Fed’s benchmark rate is at its highest level since 2007, but stubbornly high inflation likely requires at least two more increases, according to a Financial Times survey of economists. At the same time, central bank officials worry about an impending credit crunch driven by multiple bank failures this year, a concern that would typically call for reducing interest rates. “They’re between a rock and a very hard place,” a former governor of India’s central bank told The Wall Street Journal.

Investors cheer Nigeria reforms

Markets signaled confidence in early economic reforms by Nigeria’s new president. Bola Tinubu, who took office barely two weeks ago, has already announced the dismantling of costly fuel subsidies, the unifying of Nigeria’s fractured and overly complex foreign-exchange market, and the removal of the central bank’s governor, who was blamed for a series of controversial policies. The moves sent Nigerian bonds higher. Though Tinubu was elected with a weak mandate — he won just 37% of the vote on low turnout, and his opponents challenged the result — his pedigree as a former Lagos governor also offers investors hope. “Reform momentum in Nigeria has picked up considerably,” a London-based fund manager said.

China’s marriage slump

Marriage registrations in China dipped to their lowest level on record, the latest sign of the country’s worsening demographic crisis. Last year’s figure was barely half its peak level, set in 2013, as couples — faced with tougher employment and financial prospects — delay or eschew marriage entirely, contributing to a fast-declining birth rate. The consequences are enormous, likely to eventually shrink China’s labor force and put huge pressure on state coffers as the population ages. For now, policymakers are urging couples to have multiple kids, while cities compete for workers with packages that include free rent. Down the line, Beijing will probably need to undertake huge reforms to a threadbare social-safety net, one of China’s top economists recently noted.

Jokic steers Denver to first NBA title

The Denver Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat to win their first NBA championship, capping a remarkable ascent for their best player, Nikola Jokic. The giant Serb was lowly regarded when he entered the NBA — broadcasters aired a Taco Bell commercial during the moment he was drafted with the 41st selection — and he spent his first season as a reserve. But his gifted fundamentals combined with his continual improvement resulted in back-to-back Most Valuable Player awards, and ultimately, the championship. Beloved by his teammates for his extraordinary passing and offensive skills, Jokic also won fans for his understated demeanor. Asked whether he was looking forward to a championship parade in Denver, Jokic complained, “I need to go home.”

• Iran’s president meets his Venezuelan counterpart in Caracas.
• Junior doctors in England go on strike again for better pay.
• U.S. President Joe Biden hosts a Juneteenth concert at the White House.

More workers than ever say they are thriving at work, but the record figure still amounts to barely a fifth of the global workforce. The majority say they are not engaged at their jobs, according to research published by Gallup today. Who’s to blame? Management. “Poor management leads to lost customers and lost profits, but it also leads to miserable lives,” the firm’s CEO wrote in its latest State of the Global Workplace report.

A debut cookbook by a self-taught chef is the bestselling book on Amazon Australia. Sydney-based Nagi Maehashi also won the top prize at last month’s Australian Book Industry Awards for RecipeTin Eats, which became the highest-selling title by a first-time Australian author in its first week of release in October. The book grew out of Maehashi’s popular food blog by the same name and brings together more than 150 recipes. The former accountant told Salon she swears by three ingredients to transform any meal. “Whatever you’ve got [in the cupboard], you can have dinner on the table if you’ve got butter, wine, and garlic,” she said.

• Four children were rescued after surviving a plane crash and being stranded in the Amazon in Colombia for more than a month. New details explained how they managed to survive.
• The author of Eat, Pray, Love pulled her new book over backlash from Ukrainian readers to the novel’s Russian setting.
• Previously undisclosed text messages show how WarnerMedia sought to use CNN’s close relationship with Andrew Cuomo to advance its commercial interests, Max Tani scooped.