In the news...

Mike Pompeo heads to China…The US secretary of state will meet with senior Chinese officials to discuss next steps for North Korea following Donald Trump’s summit with Kim Jong Un.

…As Donald Trump announces a cessation of military drills with Seoul. The White House is expected to cancel upcoming joint military drills between the US and South Korea scheduled for the fall, after the president—in an apparent surprise to Seoul and the US military in Korea—called such drills “provocative” to North Korea.

Argentina votes to change its restrictive abortion laws. Currently, women can be imprisoned up to four years for having the procedure. The bill, which would legalize abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, will have to pass in the country’s more conservative senate before going into effect.

Comcast made a $65 billion bid for Fox. Disney already offered 21st Century Fox a $52.4 billion all-stock package, but Comcast upped the ante with $35 per share, in cash. With AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner legally approved earlier this week, analysts expect mergers to start accelerating.

Germany fined Volkswagen €1 billion ($1.2 billion) over dieselgate.The fine was imposed for “breaches of supervision” in the auto maker’s engine department, which led to the diesel-emission manipulation of almost 11 million cars from 2007 to 2015. VW won’t appeal the fine, saying in a statement that it’s “committed to its responsibility for the diesel crisis.”

The Fed raised interest rates. In its second hike this year, the US Federal Reserve nudged the federal funds rate to a range of 1.75% to 2%, following low unemployment numbers. The Fed also indicated that it would raise rates four times in 2018, not three, as previously expected.

One for the Playlist