Bloomberg Businessweek-Europe Edition October 7, 2019

Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, was subpoenaed by three House committees. Congress wants records of his dealings with Ukraine on the president’s behalf, part of the impeachment inquiry probing possible foreign interference in the 2020 elections. Giuliani has until Oct. 15 to turn over the documents. ▷ 40 In the largest such judgment in its history, the World Trade Organization allowed the U.S. to impose tariffs on as much as $7.5b of European annual exports—of everything from plane parts to wine to leather goods—in retaliation for illegal subsidies to Airbus, the main rival of America’s Boeing. A massive military parade marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. President Xi Jinping declared that no force could stop the country’s rise. Meanwhile, violent protests continued in Hong Kong. Credit…

▶ Trade War Opponents Meet Again The Trump administration plans to host Vice Premier Liu He and other senior Chinese officials for trade talks on Oct. 10 and 11, just days before another threatened increase in U.S. tariffs on imports from China is due to take effect. ▶ The Federal Open Market Committee will release the minutes from its last meeting on Oct. 9, shedding light on the logic behind the latest quarter-point rate cut. ▶ Portugal goes to the polls on Oct. 6. Surveys give current Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s Socialist Party a comfortable lead. ▶ The inaugural ANOC World Beach Games begin in Doha on Oct. 12. They’ll feature 1,200 athletes from 97 nations competing in 12 sports. ▶ The 40th annual Oil & Money conference, in London Oct. 8-10, will focus…

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to open a formal impeachment inquiry is a momentous step. Without some caution, it could also be a perilous one for American democracy. The impetus was a whistleblower complaint by a U.S. intelligence official that alleges misconduct by the president. Trump’s administration tried its best to prevent the full complaint from being shared with Congress, which Pelosi said was the last straw. As the details of the case have emerged, it’s become evident why the president wanted to suppress them: They show a flagrant abuse of power. In July, Trump had a phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. According to the complaint, Trump attempted to cajole his newly elected counterpart into digging up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden, Trump’s chief rival in the…

For centuries, small countries have relied on bigger ones to protect them. The trick was to avoid becoming too much of a pawn in the greater game of the superpowers. Spanned by mountains that run more than 550 kilometers (342 miles) and bounded by the Adriatic Sea, the Western Balkan region is a case in point. The Greeks, Romans, Slavs, Ottomans, and Austro-Hungarians all used it as a gateway to expand empires, moving populations and redrawing borders in the process. A patchwork of small states might band together to form a buffer for a while before falling apart. They’d find protectors in each of these civilizations—after being conquered. Nowadays big countries use means other than raw military power to exert influence over the Balkans. The carrots of trade and investment have the…

Not long ago, an AT&T Inc. executive named Brad Bentley had a novel idea for HBO. Over the years the premium TV network had explored just about every edgy storytelling topic, whether it was the suburban mob bosses of The Sopranos or the incestuous and dragon-riding public servants of Game of Thrones. But Bentley, according to a person familiar with the matter, told network executives in a meeting that the moment had finally come for HBO to expose its millions of subscribers to the one thing that had remained taboo during its 46-year history: commercials. The suggestion didn’t go over well. HBO executives were stunned at the idea of larding down the network’s prestigious programming with ads, no matter how much money it could generate, and pushed back forcefully. “We will…

In the heart of Sydney’s financial district, sandwiched between the offices of law firms and fund managers, the smartly refurbished classrooms of King’s Own Institute are ready for a major intake of students. There are banks of white desks and tables lined with Dell computers and Lenovo laptops. But there’s barely an Australian anywhere on campus. With more than 2,400 students—almost all of them from abroad—studying for bachelor’s and master’s degrees in subjects such as business, accounting, and information technology, KOI is at the forefront as schools worldwide pursue Chinese students who increasingly are seeking alternatives to studying in the U.S. China Education Group Holdings Ltd., an operator of nine postsecondary schools across six Chinese provinces, announced the A$128 million ($86 million) purchase of KOI on Sept. 23, a deal that…