President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense hangs by a thread after two weeks of public hearings before Congress. A parade of witnesses described how his efforts to pressure Ukraine to probe Democratic rival Joseph Biden (and publicize it) extended well beyond a July 25 call. Yet one piece of Trump’s defense remains partially intact: None of the witnesses testified that Trump directly ordered them to make explicit that hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid, and an Oval Office meeting, hung in the balance. Here’s your full guide. —Josh Petri

Here are today’s top stories

Trump on Friday refused to say if he’ll sign a bill backing Hong Kong democracy protesters passed by both chambers of Congress.

Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing has a last-ditch plan to save the best of his business: Retreating from equities trading, focusing on corporate banking and eliminating 18,000 jobs. But with each stock sell-off, the company finds itself in an even deeper hole.

Amazon may argue in a challenge to Microsoft that Trump’s meddling cost the company a cloud-computing contract worth as much as $10 billion.

Bill Gates tried to build an experimental nuclear reactor in China, but the plan was thwarted by U.S. foreign investment restrictions. At Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum in Beijing, Gates and other industry leaders cautioned that trade tensions may slow technological progress.

Six weeks after Trump declared he had just about secured a partial end to his trade war with China, he still appears to have fundamental disagreements with President Xi Jinping.

Americans are guaranteed legal counsel in criminal cases. But when it comes to lawsuits, they’re not. More of them are representing themselves.

What’s Luke Kawa thinking about? The Bloomberg cross-asset reporter contends that, despite what some commentators are saying, the poor performance of some corporate junk bonds isn't emblematic of the broader market as a whole.

What you’ll need to know tomorrow

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What you’ll want to read tonight in Hyperdrive

Tesla’s Truck Launch Could Have Gone Better

Elon Musk took to the stage late Thursday to pitch Tesla’s new “Cybertruck.” The angular vehicle (opinions range wildly on the look) will cost $39,900 when it enters production in late 2021, according to the company. The presentation was going smoothly until two of the truck’s armor glass windows shattered during the demonstration. “Oh my f---ing god,” Musk said. Indeed.

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