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Attorney General William Barr spent much of Wednesday answering questions from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the special counsel’s report on Russian election meddling and possible obstruction of justice.
Mr. Barr defended the four-page summary that he released of the report, which the special counsel, Robert Mueller, criticized in a letter released by the Justice Department as failing to capture the “context, nature and substance” of the 448-page document.
Partisan focus: Democrats pressed Mr. Barr on why he had not publicly acknowledged concerns about his original summaryand why he asserted that Mr. Trump had cooperated fully with the investigation when he tried to thwart it.
Republicans focusednot on Mr. Trump or Mr. Mueller’s report but on Hillary Clinton’s emails and the former F. B. I. officials who opened the Russia investigation.
Go deeper: Read our reporter’s takeaways from the hearing.
What’s next: The House Judiciary Committee votedto allow staff lawyers to question Mr. Barr on Thursday. Mr. Barr has said he will not appear under that format.
See for yourself: Watch clips from the hearing.
The Trump administration’s accusations thatthe telecommunications giantacts as a spy for the Chinese government, means thatHuawei must prove it is trustworthy to maintain lucrative global business ties.
But “its soul is steeped in Communist Party culture,” writes our New World columnist Li Yuan, and the company’s internal structures resemble the party, from the power of its top leadership down to its team-building activities.
Related: Britain’s prime minister, Theresa May, fired her defense secretary, accusing him of leaking sensitive information about the government’s internal deliberations about Huawei and its decision to let the company build out its 5G network.
Trade talks: As the U. S. and China work toward closing a trade deal, there’s one thing that Beijing is unlikely to yield on: control over the data that American companies collect on their consumers inside China.
A nuanced ruling by the highest court in international sports will force female athletes with elevated levels of male hormones to take suppressants to compete in certain international track races.
The ruling is a defeat for Caster Semenya, a two-time Olympic champion in track and field from South Africa, who had previously challenged a proposal to limit testosterone levels. The ruling by the arbitration court was also watched closely by transgender athletes.
The court said restrictions on permitted levels of naturally occurring testosterone were discriminatory, but that such discrimination was a “necessary, reasonable and proportionate means” to preserve the integrity of women’s competition.
Response: Ms. Semenya issued a statement through her lawyers, said the decision “will not hold me back. I will once again rise above and continue to inspire young women and athletes in South Africa and around the world.” Her lawyers are considering an appeal.
What’s next: If she wants to keep participating at major international competitions, shefaces some hard choices: take hormone-suppressing drugs; compete against men; or enter competitions for intersex athletes, if any are offered.
