FedEx sues government over order to block shipments to Huawei

FedEx Corp. , after botching some deliveries for Huawei Technologies Co., filed a lawsuit Monday to stop the U.S. government from requiring the package giant to enforce a crackdown on the Chinese telecommunications-gear maker.

The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Washington, D.C., claims the U.S. Commerce Department’s latest restrictions are essentially forcing FedEx FDX, -2.69%  to police millions of packages it ships daily to ensure prohibited items aren’t being exported to Huawei. It is a task, FedEx claims, that is legally and logistically impossible.

“FedEx is a transportation company, not a law-enforcement agency,” the company said in a statement.

A spokesman for the Commerce Department said it hadn’t yet reviewed FedEx’s complaint but the agency intended to defend its role in U.S. national security.

An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.

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‘Harry Potter: Wizards Unite’ Only Does Fraction Of ‘Pokémon Go’ Sales

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite isn’t conjuring up the same sales magic as Pokémon GO.

The new mobile game from Niantic, which allows players to experience the wizarding world of Harry Potter through their mobile devices, arrived in the U.S. and U.K. on Friday, June 22.

While it debuted at #1 in the iOS app store, it’s off to a sluggish start compared to Pokémon GO, which landed on July 6, 2016.

According to early estimates posted by Sensor Tower, which tracks mobile insights, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite was installed in about 400,000 devices, and generated over $300,000 in revenue in its first 24 hours of sales. However, those numbers pale in comparison to the launch of Pokémon GO.

Niantic’s previous release, Pokémon GO, was installed 7.5 million times and made about $2 million in the U.S. over its first 24 hours of release. It debuted in the U.K. a week later.

Efforts to fight dengue boosted amid epidemic

Efforts have been stepped up to stop the transmission of dengue amid the current epidemic. Around Woodlands Avenue 6, 360 people have been infected in two dengue clusters which are now the largest here.

More than 5,500 people have been infected with the mosquito-borne virus this year, of whom about 2,000 have needed hospital care. Five have died.

Experts say the surge in cases after two years of relatively low numbers is due to a change in the dominant dengue strain.

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China, US trade officials talk ahead of Trump-Xi meeting

• Chinese Vice Premier Liu He held a phone conversation with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Tuesday.

Senior Chinese and U.S. trade officials spoke by telephone on Monday ahead of talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump set for later this week, as the world's two largest economies remain locked in a tariff war.

Trump and Xi are expected to meet on the second day of the Friday-Saturday Group of 20 summit in Japan, the first face-to-face meeting for the leaders since trade talks broke off in May.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He held a phone conversation with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement posted to its website on Tuesday morning.

During the call the Chinese and U.S. officials exchanged opinions on trade in accordance with the instructions of the two countries' heads of state, and agreed to maintain communications, the statement said.

China's official Xinhua News Agency said on Tuesday that the call took place at the request of U.S. officials.

A senior U.S. official said Monday that Trump views the meeting with Xi as a chance to see where Beijing stands on the two countries' trade war, and is"comfortable with any outcome."

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South Korea to exit Woori Financial Group by 2022

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea said on Tuesday it would sell its entire stake in Woori Financial Group Inc within three years, in a move to recoup taxpayers’ money spent to bail out the company two decades ago.

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said in a statement that it had decided to sell the 18.3% stake owned by the state-funded Korea Deposit Insurance Corp from 2020 to 2022.

In the aftermath of the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, the government spent 12.8 trillion won ($11.10 billion) to bail out the bank and has since then gradually sold stakes to recoup the public funds.

Iran Says New U.S. Sanctions Mean Diplomatic Path Closed ‘Forever’

U.S. sanctions against Iran’s supreme leader and foreign minister mean the diplomatic path with Washington is closed “forever,” semi-official Iranian Students News Agency reported.

“The futile sanctions against the Iranian leader and the country’s chief diplomat mean the permanent closure of the diplomatic path with the government of the United States,” foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi was cited as saying by the news agency. “The Trump government is in the process of destroying all the established international mechanisms for the maintaining global peace and security.”

U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and eight senior military commanders on Monday, a provocative step aimed at increasing pressure on the Islamic Republic.

Trump told reporters at the White House that the penalties would deny Khamenei and his office access to financial resources. The U.S. is also expected to impose financial restrictions on Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif later this week.