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Frontrunning: September 11

  • U.S. Index Futures Rise as Irma Weakens, Korea Tensions Ease (BBG)
  • Irma Weakens as It Heads Past Tampa, Cutting Damage Forecast (BBG)
  • As Hurricane Irma heads toward Florida, U.S. military launches amphibious relief efforts in the Caribbean (WaPo)
  • Oil weakens on fears Irma could dent U.S. demand (Reuters)
  • ‘People are roaming like zombies.’ Virgin Islands stagger after storm passes (WaPo)
  • Republicans could lose U.S. House in 2018 over immigration fight: Bannon (Reuters)
  • Inside the Government Program That Pays to Rebuild Neighborhoods After a Storm (WSJ)
  • Equifax Customer Complaints Keep Piling Up (WSJ)
  • Hyundai Motor, Kia to temporarily shut down U.S. plants due to Irma (Reuters)
  • Trump Debt Limit Deal Undermines GOP Trust on Tax Overhaul (BBG)
  • China Pulls Back on Measures Aimed at Bolstering Currency (WSJ)
  • U.S. Waters Down North Korea Sanctions Draft Before Vote (BBG)
  • Brazil police raid billionaire's home amid scandal (Reuters)
  • Goldman Sees Spent Harvey Hurting Oil Use More Than Raging Irma (BBG)
  • The New Corporate Recruitment Pool: Workers in Dead-End Jobs (WSJ)
  • General Atlantic hires ex-AXA boss Henri de Castries (Reuters)
  • China court releases video of Taiwanese activist confessing to subversion (Reuters)
  • Haley’s UN Brinkmanship Comes With Advice by Long-Time Pollster (BBG)
  • China's big money trumps U.S. influence in Cambodia (Reuters)
  • Your Next Phone Will Probably Cost You $1,000 (BBG)
  • London Retains Its Crown as World’s Top Financial Center (BBG)
  • The Smell of Diesel Will Linger in Frankfurt This Week (BBG)

 

Overnight Media Digest

WSJ

- T-Mobile US Inc says it will launch a nationwide internet-of-things network using new narrowband radio standards by mid-2018. on.wsj.com/2wTXVvq

- Hurricane Irma knocked out power to about 3.5 million customers in Florida as of Sunday evening. on.wsj.com/2wTYrtK

- Chinese authorities plan to shut down domestic bitcoin exchanges, delivering a final blow to a once-thriving industry of commercial trading for virtual currencies, which took off inside the mainland four years ago. on.wsj.com/2wUpQLU

- Satellite-services provider SES SA on Monday intends to announce a deal for a new fleet of smaller, less-expensive, easily reprogrammable Boeing Co satellites on.wsj.com/2wUCoTG

- President Donald Trump will host Malaysia's premier this week, in a visit that shows how hard his administration is working to court Asian allies to pressure North Korea over its nuclear-weapons program on.wsj.com/2wSR5Gx

- Pope Francis wrapped up a five-day trip to Colombia Sunday by declaring that the postwar period the country is entering must include an end to what he called modern forms of slavery on.wsj.com/2wTE6V5

 

FT

Rami Levy, chief executive of Israel’s largest supermarket chain Rami Levy Hashikma Marketing, along with a local politician, a businessman and a reporter were detained on Sunday for questioning over alleged fraud and breach of trust involving the owners of a shopping mall and the local municipality.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc is looking to expand its retail banking business to the UK by aiming to launch an online deposit business next year. Stephen Scherr, the head of strategy, said the bank could look to add a consumer-lending arm in the UK over time, taking on the likes of Zopa, RateSetter and Funding Circle.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Nigerian business has signed a $300 million deal with local Shoreline Energy to develop, market and distribute natural gas around Lagos.

Commodity trader Noble Group Ltd has shortlisted Vitol and Mercuria to buy the company’s $1 billion oil business, as it scrambles to pay down debt to avoid bankruptcy. The shortlisted bidders have been asked to submit their formal offers before the end of the month.

 

NYT

- When Apple Inc unveils its new top-of-the-line iPhone on Tuesday, it will also enter new territory on price: The latest phone will start at about $1,000, compared with the $769 minimum for its current top phone, the iPhone 7 Plus. nyti.ms/2gVZgKP

- Volkswagen AG, the German auto giant, is preparing for a swift expansion in its output of electric cars next year — and the biggest jump in production will be in China. General Motors Co is making China the hub of its electric car research and development. Renault-Nissan, the French and Japanese carmaker, and Ford Motor Co have hustled to set up joint electric-car ventures in China. nyti.ms/2ePdQTR

- In the wake of the disclosure on Thursday by Equifax Inc that hackers had compromised its collection of private information, potentially affecting 143 million Americans, The New York Times asked readers to tell their own tales of being hacked. Some previous victims of data breaches have also taken to Twitter. nyti.ms/2gVA2zW

- Construction cranes are a ubiquitous sight in Miami, symbols of a growing city towering hundreds of feet above its streets. They are built to withstand high winds, but maybe not to withstand Hurricane Irma. Since Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys early on Sunday, bringing hurricane-force winds to much of South Florida, parts of two cranes collapsed. nyti.ms/2wRXqol

 

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** Audible Inc will now sell audiobooks on a bilingual website in Canadian dollars for the first time. Audible says it sold more than one million audiobooks in Canada last year, to customers shopping through its U.S. site (as well as its France-based site for French speakers). (tgam.ca/2gX4TvY)

** The British Columbia Office of the Superintendent has issued new draft rules barring real estate agents from representing both seller and buyer in a transaction, though the service will still be allowed in remote locations underserved by licensed agents. (tgam.ca/2vOOGeZ)

** Lei Jin, deputy editor of Vancouver-based Global Chinese Press, has filed a complaint with the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal against the paper after losing his job due to an attempt to publish an obituary of China's Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo. (tgam.ca/2vPcmQ9)

NATIONAL POST

** The Bank of Canada is striking while the economy remains hot — with a rate increase this month coming closely behind a surprising July increase, which had been the first upward move in seven years and one that many analysts had expected to be a little farther down the calendar. (bit.ly/2gXUQXr)

** Canadian farmers, busy pulling in the fall's harvest, fear Finance Minister Bill Morneau's proposed tax changes will make them uncompetitive relative to large land aggregators and could exacerbate a demographic crisis in farming communities. (bit.ly/2gX87jb)

 

Britain

The Times

BP Plc is to call time on chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg's chequered seven-year reign by hiring headhunters to find a replacement. The oil giant is believed to be close to triggering a search process, although a formal decision has not yet been taken by the board. (bit.ly/2vO0m1z)

Emerisque Brands, a private equity firm founded by Ajay Khaitan, has entered exclusive talks to buy the fashion retailers Oasis, Warehouse and Coast from the Icelandic bank Kaupthing. (bit.ly/2vOqNE5)

The Guardian

The Middle East arm of Bell Pottinger is in talks to separate from the scandal-hit PR agency, as its parent prepares to go into administration as soon as Monday. (bit.ly/2vOcQGq)

Windfarms around Britain's coast will beat the planned nuclear power station Hinkley Point on price when the winning bidders for a 290-million-a-year pound pot of government subsidies are announced on Monday, experts predict. (bit.ly/2vOxkPj)

The Telegraph

Alphabet's Google Inc will launch a fightback against Brussels this week when the company lodges an appeal against its record monopoly abuse fine. The internet giant is expected to file the response to the European Commission's 2.4 billion euros ($2.88 billion) penalty on Monday, the deadline for submitting an appeal. (bit.ly/2vOxKFn)

BAE Systems Plc has revealed plans for an unmanned tank which could raise questions about Britain's policy on "robot warriors". The arms company envisions an autonomous combat vehicle supported by "fleets of smaller autonomous air and ground vehicles" which create a defensive perimeter around the tank. (bit.ly/2vOyom3)

Sky News

The crisis-hit support services group Carillion Plc will face a fresh blow on Monday with the departure of its finance chief after just nine months in the job. (bit.ly/2gVLLP3)

A sponsor of the Movistar professional cycling team is seeking to emulate the recent takeover of Rapha, the upmarket bikewear brand, by exploring a potentially lucrative sale. Endura, which is part-owned by a private equity firm, is considering appointing advisers after receiving a flurry of approaches to buy the business. (bit.ly/2vObwn2)