Good morning. Three major drug distributors are in talks to pay $18 billion to settle sweeping litigation brought by state and local governments blaming them for fueling the opioid crisis, people familiar with the discussions said, potentially marking a broad resolution to lawsuits that have shaken the pharmaceutical industry.

The three distributors—McKesson, AmerisourceBergen Corp. and Cardinal Health Inc.—would collectively pay $18 billion over 18 years under the deal currently on the table, the people said. Johnson & Johnson is also involved in the discussions to contribute additional money, some of the people said.

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Players up and down the pharmaceutical supply chain have been sued by virtually every state and thousands of city and county governments. Over 2,000 lawsuits allege the industry’s overly aggressive marketing of prescription painkillers and lax oversight over drug distribution contributed to widespread opioid addiction. At least 400,000 people have died in the U.S. from overdoses of legal and illegal opioids since 1999, according to federal data.

Pressure has mounted on pharmaceutical companies to settle the opioid lawsuits and cap the liability. McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health are among companies slated to go to trial Monday in federal court in Cleveland in the cases of two Ohio counties that have been chosen to serve as a bellwether for the broader litigation.

Latvia should take steps to strengthen its foreign bribery laws and enforcement, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said.

Authorities of the European nation have failed to prosecute cases in which individuals or companies have allegedly paid bribes to foreign officials, the OECD said in a report evaluating Latvia’s bribery laws. Additionally, no financial institution has been held criminally liable to date for participating in foreign bribery or money-laundering schemes, according to the OECD.

Still, the OECD—whose working group on bribery evaluates countries’ anticorruption laws—praised Latvia’s efforts in recent years to increase the maximum statutory fines for bribery, money laundering and accounting violations.

—Kristin Broughton

The trial against one of the alleged ringleaders behind $2 billion in fraudulent loans to Mozambique kicked off in New York on Tuesday, the same day citizens of the southern African nation cast judgment at the ballot box on whether their government had done enough to hold accountable officials involved in the secret deals.

Mozambique plunged into a debilitating crisis after the loans were disclosed in 2016, following reporting by The Wall Street Journal. The loans were arranged by Credit Suisse Group AG and Russian bank VTB Group for naval and tuna-fishing projects that never materialized.

• The European Union ordered semiconductor maker Broadcom to stop requiring contract terms with customers that the bloc alleges are anticompetitive, even as a probe into them continues—the first time regulators have used such an injunction in 18 years. The announcement of so-called interim measures against Broadcom marks the first time EU regulators have used the power since 2001 and comes amid tightening European scrutiny of U.S. technology giants.
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  Video-sharing platform TikTok, under fire for allegedly censoring content to appease China, has hired two former U.S. lawmakers as part of a team to review its content-moderation policy, the company said. The company’s hiring of K&L Gates LLP law firm, announced in a blog post, could prompt executives in charge at the video-sharing app’s headquarters to revise the company’s policy.
   
• A Michigan judge blocked the state’s weeks-old ban on flavored e-cigarettes, citing evidence that adults could return to smoking more harmful tobacco products. Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens also said the delay by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration in implementing the prohibition undercut its position that emergency rules were justified. The lawsuit was filed by vaping businesses that said the ban, which took effect Oct. 2, will force them to close.
   
• Steve Wynn should be banned from Nevada’s casino industry because of his alleged sexual misconduct against former employees, according to a state regulator’s filing. The Nevada Gaming Control Board recommended the action in a complaint filed against Mr. Wynn, seeking to have his status as a person suitable to hold a casino license revoked. Mr. Wynn resigned as chairman and chief executive of Wynn Resorts Ltd. in February 2018, after The Wall Street Journal published an article detailing allegations of sexual misconduct by Mr. Wynn toward employees.

A watchdog tasked with protecting investors by policing audits of public companies has slowed its work amid board infighting, multiple senior staff departures, and allegations that the chairman has created a “sense of fear,” according to a whistleblower letter and people familiar with the situation.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, set up by Congress after the Enron and WorldCom accounting fiascoes of the early 2000s, oversees accounting firms that audit companies worth in total trillions of dollars. The regulator is meant to ensure investors can rely on the financial statements of public companies by inspecting audits and taking action against accounting firms.

Lately, the board has struggled with internal feuding and personnel issues, say the people familiar with the matter. The regulator has issued 27% fewer audit-inspection reports this year, board data show, as senior staff positions remain unfilled for months.

• The global economy in 2019 is on course for its weakest year of growth since the financial crisis, weighed down by tensions that have slowed international trade to nearly a standstill. Global growth is expected to slow to 3% this year, according to new estimates from the International Monetary Fund, down from an estimate of 3.2% in July. The IMF attributed the sharp slowdown over the past two years primarily to rising trade barriers that have stunted manufacturing and investment around the world.
   
• Taco Bell said it voluntarily recalled about 2.3 million pounds of seasoned beef from its restaurants and distribution sites Friday after a customer reportedly found a metal shaving in an order of food. Taco Bell, which is a subsidiary of Yum Brands Inc., said the products were removed from restaurants in 21 states across the eastern Midwest, northern Southeast and Northeast regions.

Germany won’t outright exclude Huawei Technologies or other vendors from supplying components for next-generation 5G internet, according to a draft of new security requirements for German telecommunication networks, even as the U.S. and the European Union have warned against risks posed by the Chinese telecom giant.

The German Federal Network Agency published an extensive draft of new security requirements for telecom networks, which specifies that manufacturers and suppliers of network components must demonstrate their “trustworthiness” through various certification procedures but doesn’t specifically prohibit Huawei or other vendors.

The new security standards, which are subject to revision before being submitted to parliament, pave the way for Huawei to participate in building Germany’s sorely needed high-speed internet infrastructure upgrade. 

The son of former Vice President Joe Biden said he used “poor judgment” when he decided to join the board of a Ukrainian energy company, providing fodder to his father’s political adversaries, but said he did nothing improper.

Hunter Biden said in an interview with ABC News that he didn’t discuss his work in Ukraine with his father other than one instance in which his father told him, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

General Motors and the United Auto Workers are nearing a contract deal to end a 30-day strike at the company’s factories with bargainers moving closer on earlier sticking points and leaders from each side engaging in high-level talks. 

GM Chief Executive Mary Barra for the first time since the strike began met with UAW officials at the bargaining table Tuesday morning in an effort to solidify an agreement, according to people familiar with the discussions. UAW President Gary Jones also attended the bargaining session, as did GM President Mark Reuss, the people said.

After clashing publicly last week, GM and the union made progress during lengthy bargaining sessions in recent days, working through thorny issues including wages and the pay scale for new hires, the people said.

• German discount chains Aldi and Lidl are capturing a larger share of U.S. grocery bills and pressuring U.S. retailers to respond. The privately owned foreign companies have increased sales with their simpler stores that offer fewer products at lower prices. In response, U.S. grocers are lowering prices on staples such as milk and eggs and adding more products the discounters aren’t known for, such as fresh foods. The battle comes as supermarkets already are fighting to keep customers from shopping more online.
   
• MGM Resorts International said it is selling two casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, including its landmark Bellagio property, in separate real-estate deals. The global casino giant is putting the Bellagio into a joint venture controlled by a Blackstone real-estate investment trust. MGM is to hold a 5% stake in the venture and $4.2 billion cash and will continue to operate the hotel and casino, which it will rent from the venture for $245 million a year. The transaction values Bellagio at $4.25 billion, the company said.

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Send comments to the Risk & Compliance editor, Jack Hagel, at jack.hagel@wsj.com.