In the news...

Mike Pompeo smooths feathers in South Korea.The US secretary of state will try to explain to president Moon Jae-in’s government exactly what Donald Trump promised Kim Jong Un in Singapore. Seoul and the US military were reportedly caught unaware by Trump’s pledge to halt joint military exercises.

The Fed hikes interest rates. Investors are almost unanimous in expecting a higher benchmark rate from the US Federal Reserve. Eyes will be peeled for an update to the central bank’s policy statement, which could signal its broader macroeconomic outlook and propensity for ending the current rate-hike cycle.

FIFA decides where to hold the 2026 World Cup. There are only two candidates: Morocco and a joint bid by the US, Mexico, and Canada. The previous vote in 2010, which set this year’s tournament in Russia and the 2022 event in Qatar, was beset by controversies of bribery and vote-rigging.

A US judge cleared AT&T’s Time Warner acquisition. Judge Richard Leon ruled that the $85.4 billion deal did not violate antitrust regulations. The decision clears the way for another media bidding war, as Comcast tries to top Disney’s $54 billion bid to buy 21st Century Fox.

Tesla is laying off 9% of its workforce.The company said it would ax thousands of employees in a restructuring. Musk said that the cuts would not affect factory workers and “production associates” crucial to manufacturing the Model 3 and Tesla’s hope of turning an annual profit for the first time in 2018.

Macedonia will change its name. Prime minister Zoran Zaev agreed to start calling his country North Macedonia, after more than two decades of diplomatic brawling with Greece, which has a region of the same name. In return, Greece agreed stop blocking its attempts to join NATO and the EU.

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