Top News

For years, one of the U.S. military’s largest housing providers, Balfour Beatty, kept two sets of maintenance books. A Reuters and CBS News investigation finds that by falsifying records that left military families in dangerous living conditions, the company secured millions of dollars in ‘performance incentive fees’.

President Donald Trump said that U.S. authorities would begin next week removing millions of immigrants who are in the United States illegally. “Next week ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States,” Trump tweeted. There are an estimated 12 million immigrants who are in the United States illegally, mainly from Mexico and Central America. Under a deal reached earlier this month, Mexico has agreed to take Central American immigrants seeking asylum in the United States until their cases are heard in U.S. courts.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam signaled the end of a controversial extradition bill that she promoted and then postponed after some of the most violent protests since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. In a closely watched press conference, Lam apologized for the turmoil but refused to say whether the bill would be withdrawn, only that it wouldn’t be re-introduced during her time in office if public fears persist.

Middle East

President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would not wage war against any nation, sounding a note of restraint after the United States announced more troop deployments to the Middle East. Fears of a confrontation between Iran and the U.S. have mounted since Thursday when two oil tankers were attacked near the strategic Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, which Washington blamed on Tehran. The Chinese government’s top diplomat warned that the world should not open a “Pandora’s Box” in the Middle East, as he denounced U.S. pressure on Iran and called on it not to drop out of a landmark nuclear deal.

Egypt’s former president Mohamed Mursi was buried in a restricted family ceremony in Cairo, a day after he suffered a fatal heart attack in court, his son said, as tributes poured in on social media. When Mursi, a leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, broke out of jail during the final days of Hosni Mubarak’s presidency in 2011, he little imagined that the following year he would be president and, another year on, behind bars again. Three years later, deposed and once more under military-backed rule, he was on trial accused of various crimes, charges that were to bring him a life sentence and keep him in prison until his collapse in court and death.

A Qatari technical delegation held talks in Israel and the Gaza Strip this week about helping pay for a proposed new power line between them, officials on both sides said, marking a potential expansion of Doha’s aid efforts for Palestinians. Qatar has in recent years funnelled hundreds of millions of dollars into relief projects in Hamas-controlled Gaza, which it views as helping stave off privation and fighting with Israel.The intervention is approved by Israel but has gone largely unacknowledged by rightist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, along with U.S.-allied Arab leaders, has cold-shouldered Doha for its ties to Iran and Islamist groups like Hamas.

Tech

Facebook revealed plans to launch a cryptocurrency called Libra, the latest development in its effort to expand beyond social networking and move into e-commerce and global payments. It will be run by an association comprised of other corporate investors and non-profit members, with an expected launch in the first half of 2020. Here are some details.

Sweden’s AB Volvo is joining forces with U.S. chipmaker Nvidia to develop artificial intelligence used in self-driving trucks, the companies said. Volvo said the partnership will focus on the development of a flexible, scalable autonomous driving system, which is planned to be used first in commercial pilot schemes before it is deployed in commercial vehicles from the Volvo Group, Volvo said.

Siemens sells aerospace startup to Rolls-Royce Siemens struck a deal to sell its in-house startup Siemens eAircraft, which develops electric and hybrid-electric propulsion systems for the aerospace industry, to Rolls-Royce for an undisclosed sum, the German company said.

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