Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he has the votes to set the terms of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial without the cooperation of Democrats, which if true would allow the Republican to reject calls for witness testimony—including that of former National Security Adviser John Bolton. Trump, meanwhile, has been wavering over whether he would even allow his top aides to testify. —Josh Petri Here are today’s top stories Iran said it’s evaluating 13 possible ways to inflict a “historic nightmare” on the U.S. for assassinating a powerful Iranian general, whose burial was postponed after dozens of mourners died in a stampede. Boeing will recommend flight-simulator training for pilots of the 737 Max, reversing its previous opposition and potentially complicating the grounded jetliner’s return to service after two crashes killed 346 passengers. Taiwan has historically relied on some awkward arrangements to develop deep economic ties with mainland China while maintaining close political and military relations with the U.S. Today, that model is under unprecedented strain, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. Upcoming local elections may only make things worse. Japanese prosecutors have obtained an arrest warrant for Carole Ghosn, the wife of Carlos Ghosn, who fled the nation a week ago. The former auto executive is set to meet the press in Beirut. Elon Musk was apparently so excited about Tesla’s prospects in China that he was moved to dance, sending company shares to new highs. Jeffrey Gundlach predicted 2019 would be the “the year no one made money.” As it turned out, pretty much everyone in the market did. What’s Joe Weisenthal thinking about? The Bloomberg news director says inflation in Europe just accelerated to its fastest pace in eight months, but the milestone isn’t actually that notable for two reasons. First: It’s just headline inflation, which includes oil. Strip that out and inflation didn’t go anywhere in December, Joe says. Second (and more importantly): The core measure hasn’t done anything for years now in Europe. What you’ll need to know tomorrow What you’ll want to read tonight Bush fires have killed at least 24 people and burned more than 25 million acres across Australia. The fires are so large they are generating their own weather systems and causing lightning strikes that in turn ignite more blazes. Now, smoke from the fires has spread halfway across the world, darkening skies in Argentina and beyond. Photographer: NOAA Photographer: NOAA Like Bloomberg’s Evening Briefing? Subscribe to Bloomberg.com. You’ll get our unmatched global news coverage and two premium daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close, and much, much more. See our limited-time introductory offer. Diversity is a business issue. Sign up now for our weekly Bloomberg Equality newsletter to get the latest on how companies and institutions are confronting issues of gender, race and class. Download the Bloomberg app: It’s available for iOS and Android. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. Learn more. |