The Ukraine call wasn’t the first time U.S. President Donald Trump asked for a favor in the Oval Office. In 2017, Trump pressed then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to help persuade the Justice Department to drop the prosecution of an Iranian-Turkish gold trader who was a client of Trump’s current personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. —Josh Petri

Here are today’s top stories

Several foreign allies of Giuliani were accused by U.S. prosecutors of skirting campaign contribution limits in a scheme to oust the American ambassador to Ukraine, an episode now under scrutiny by Congress as it weighs Trump’s impeachment. Two of them, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were apprehended as they were leaving the country with one-way tickets. Both made headlines in recent days for helping Giuliani urge the Ukrainian government to probe former Vice President Joseph Biden.

Trump is pushing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to hold a formal vote on impeachment.

The U.S. and China began two days of talks aimed at easing hostilities in the 18-month trade war, with both sides signaling cautious optimism in securing a partial deal that could lead to a temporary truce on tariffs.

A banker pitched officials in Caracas on a wild, almost fantastical plan to free up $1.5 billion worth of Venezuelan gold frozen in accounts in London.

California is struggling in novel ways thanks to PG&E’s massive, preventative blackout. Tesla sent notices to drivers to top off their electric car batteries while they still could. Solar panel owners are learning the hard way that the systems won’t keep the lights on. 

First Ken Fisher shocked his audience with sexist remarks. Then the billionaire said he didn’t understand why, but that he was an “easy guy to dislike” because he manages so much money. Then he apologized.

What’s Joe Weisenthal thinking about? The Bloomberg news director is questioning whether we can still have an old-style recession, in which we get a downturn for a few quarters, the unemployment rate rises, some excesses are flushed out and we begin growing again. The alternative is that everything is now boom or bust. He spoke last week with David Levy, who has a new paper out called “Bubble or Nothing.”

What you’ll need to know tomorrow

• The Nike of China is preparing to go global.
• Erdogan threatens Europe with a new wave of refugees.
• Hong Kong is sinking into a recession with no end in sight.
• Amazon workers may be watching your cloud cam home footage.
• GM’s temp workers make 40% less and they’re fed up.
• Porsche and Boeing team up on a “premium” flying vehicle.
• We priced out Trump’s border moat, alligators and all.

What you’ll want to read in Businessweek

Juul, the New Big Tobacco, Is Being Hunted

In 2004, Stanford graduate students Adam Bowen and James Monsees set out to reinvent the tobacco industry. In 2015, their company, Juul Labs, began selling e-cigarettes and flavored nicotine pods that were twice as potent as competing vape products. By the following winter, “Juuling” was a verb. Today, the company is facing investigations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission and Congress. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed, and, reportedly, a criminal probe initiated by the Justice Department. They are looking into whether Juul illegally marketed its products as healthier than cigarettes, and to minors. 

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