- 'Voices under the rubble' after quake hits Italy; at least 38 dead (Reuters)
- Turkish tanks, special forces launch first major push into Syria to battle IS (Reuters)
- A Year After Stocks Armageddon, It’s Smooth Sailing for Markets (BBG)
- Global stocks ease, dollar holds ground as U.S. rate bets abound (Reuters)
- Merkel Tells Renzi He Can’t Bend Euro Rules to Boost Growth (BBG)
- Fine-Print Fortune: Two Ex-Goldman Traders Look for Bonanza in Mortgage Bonds (WSJ)
- Derivatives Users Hit as Negative Rates Raise Collateral Costs (BBG)
- Philippines says sea dispute not led to shift in ties with China or U.S. (Reuters)
- Lavrov, Kerry to meet on Syria and Ukraine in Geneva on Friday (Reuters)
- France's DCNS does not rule out 'economic war' after documents leak (Reuters)
- Largest Oil Companies’ Debts Hit Record High (WSJ)
- Secret Cameras Record Baltimore’s Every Move From Above (BBG)
- EU calls on Greece to defend statistics office (FT)
- Voters With Student Debt Flock to Clinton in Poll (BBG)
- Lockheed’s F-35 Still Falls Short, Pentagon’s Chief Tester Says (BBG)
- Tesla touts speed and driving range with new upgraded battery (Reuters)
- The Senator’s Daughter Who Raised Prices on Anti-Allergy EpiPen (BBG)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
- Two former Goldman Sachs Group traders snapped up beaten-down mortgage bonds, wagering that unusual wording in their contracts would net them millions when a bank settlement paid out. http://on.wsj.com/2bdZ62x
- The U.S. is considering providing military support for hundreds of Turkish-backed rebels massing at the border with Syria for a major offensive meant to sever Islamic State supply routes. http://on.wsj.com/2bfbrxZ
- A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck central Italy early Wednesday, levelling buildings in several towns as residents slept. The mayor of hard-hit Amatrice said "The town isn't here anymore."http://on.wsj.com/2bAGrgW
- Consumption of soda and other sugary drinks fell by more than a fifth in low-income neighborhoods of Berkeley after the California city became the first in the U.S. to introduce a special tax last year, according to a study published Tuesday. http://on.wsj.com/2bdoAgC
- Best Buy Co posted results for the latest quarter that reversed a sales slump, easing fears about its ability to lure shoppers amid a long battle with Amazon.com Inc and other online rivals. http://on.wsj.com/2bMfbsT
- As Spotify AB gears up for a potential initial public offering next year, the music-streaming service is missing one key component in its pitch to investors: rights to play the music in years to come. http://on.wsj.com/2bLUkoL
- Gillette, the largest seller of shavers, filed a lawsuit against Edgewell Personal Care Co, maker of Schick brand razors and Edge shave gels, alleging patent infringement and saying its closest competitor made misleading claims against the Procter & Gamble Co unit. http://on.wsj.com/2bcMJUo
- Anbang Insurance Group plans an initial public offering of its life-insurance unit, a move that could increase disclosure at the opaque Chinese insurer that made an aborted $14 billion bid for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc this year. http://on.wsj.com/2bEO1Gc
- Postal Savings Bank of China, the world's biggest initial public offering planned this year at more than $7 billion, is setting sail with a $2 billion backing from another Chinese state firm. http://on.wsj.com/2buIAZY
FT
Four of the world's biggest banks are together developing a new form of digital cash that they see as the future industry standard to clear and settle financial trades over blockchain, the technology underpinning bitcoin.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating cyber breaches targeting reporters at the New York Times by Russian hackers, a person familiar with the matter told the Financial Times.
American International Group Inc is in early talks to sell Lloyd's of London Ltd's operations in Bermuda, as it seeks to meet a pledge to streamline its sprawling operations and return $25 billion of capital to shareholders over the next two years.
NYT
- The New York Times' Moscow bureau was the target of an attempted cyber attack this month. But so far, there is no evidence that the hackers, believed to be Russian, were successful. http://nyti.ms/2bENQKS
- A federal court will hear arguments Wednesday in a suit to stop the Dakota Access pipeline, which the Standing Rock Sioux tribe says threatens its water supplies and sacred lands. The tribe has sued to block the pipeline and plans to ask a judge in Washington to effectively halt construction. http://nyti.ms/2bENQKK
- Mobileye, a key supplier of vision-based sensing systems, and Delphi, a provider of automotive safety systems, said they plan to begin testing a jointly developed turn-key system for self-driving cars early next year. http://nyti.ms/2bENYdc
- Federal regulators on Tuesday delivered the latest blow to a giant private equity firm, announcing an enforcement action against affiliates of Apollo Global Management for an array of securities law violations. http://nyti.ms/2bEOrMq
Britain
The Times
Brewer SABMiller Plc has won the backing of the High Court in London to hold two polls among its shareholders over the 79 billion pound ($104.21 billion) takeover offer from Anheuser Busch InBev SA. http://bit.ly/2bEi6FJ
UK employers are adopting a "business as usual" approach to hiring and investment since the Brexit referendum, despite confidence falling over the past three months, a report from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation says. http://bit.ly/2bEiFzv
The Guardian
Britain appears to be bouncing back from the post-Brexit panic in better shape than expected, after a string of indicators showed growth across the manufacturing sector, the building industry and in consumer spending. http://bit.ly/2bEiyDJ
Local authority pension funds are planning to back a shareholder resolution calling for an independent review of Sports Direct International Plc's treatment of employees. The retail group will hold its annual general meeting on Sept. 7 in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, where shareholders will vote on a trade union-backed plan to commission an investigation into working practices that will report back within six months. http://bit.ly/2bEhX52
The Telegraph
Geert Bourgeois, the minister-president of Flanders, has proposed a radical North Sea Union linking Britain to a cluster of regional states to cushion the Brexit shock, a sign that European leaders are starting to look for creative ways to heal the referendum rift. "More and more people now agree that there has to be a 'soft Brexit," he told the Daily Telegraph. http://bit.ly/2bEjF6l
Hopes the steel crisis which has cost thousands of UK jobs might be easing have been dashed by new production data for the global industry. Worldwide production of steel rose 1.4 percent year-on-year in July - the first increase since January 2015 - but output from Britain's embattled steel sector plunged, highlighting the continuing pressure it is under. http://bit.ly/2bEk4FX
Sky News
Lloyds Banking Group Plc Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio will circulate a memo to the bank's 75,000 employees on Wednesday in which he will express "deep regret" for any embarrassment that an alleged extramarital affair had caused to the company reputation, Sky News has learnt. http://bit.ly/2bEgcEW
Workers at Southern Railway are going to stage a 48-hour walkout next month in the long-running row over train guards. The Rail, Maritime and Transport union has announced its members will walk out on Sept. 7 and 8. http://bit.ly/2bEgkEz
The Independent
Former BHS boss Dominic Chapell has been banned from driving for six months for speeding. The 49-year-old was driving a green Range Rover on Churchill Way, Andover, when police clocked him driving at an average speed of 63.9 miles (103 km) per hour in a 40 mph zone on April 6. http://ind.pn/2bEgTyj