US cut back South Korea military exercises

Reuters Daily Briefing <dailybriefing@thomsonreuters.com>
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2026-08-17 12:59

Daily Briefing

By Claire Beers

Hello. Trump orders Pentagon to cut back military exercises with South Korea, US to tell partners they must pick sides in AI race with China, and Hurricane Lala leaves more than 180,000 without power in Hawaii.

Plus, Italy recovers precious stolen art.

Thursday's Daily Briefing incorrectly stated that the next total solar eclipse in Europe would occur in 2081. It's actually next year, on August 2, 2027. We apologize for the error.

Today's Top News

US Army soldiers take part in annual Freedom Shield joint military training near the demilitarized zone separating South and North Korea. REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon

President Donald Trump has ordered a cutback in US military drills with South Korea, raising questions about one of America's most important alliances. Reuters Korea Bureau Chief Brenda Goh explains why analysts think it's about Trump playing geopolitical chess on the Reuters World News podcast.
Russia carried out a wave of ‌airstrikes on Ukraine overnight, killing two people at a steel plant, and Kyiv launched a heavy drone attack on Moscow that killed one person and set ablaze a warehouse used by Russia's leading e-commerce retailer.
Hundreds of migrants who recently entered Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta staged a protest on a popular urban beach, urging Spanish authorities to grant them asylum instead of sending them back to Morocco.
More than 180,000 utility customers remained without power across Hawaii after Hurricane Lala brushed the Big Island before being downgraded to a tropical ‌storm.
Residents of villages in eastern Indonesia hit by a deadly earthquake that killed at least ‌54 people were awaiting aid as rescuers prepared to comb through collapsed buildings in search of people trapped beneath the rubble.
US Attorney General Todd Blanche said that he backs top prosecutor Jeanine Pirro, who President Donald Trump criticized for the way she handled a case of alleged vandalism ‌at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
American actress Hayden Panettiere, famed for roles in television shows such as "Nashville" and "Heroes," has died aged 36. No cause was stated; the death is being investigated.

Business & Markets

A US sailor launches an F-35C Lightning II from the flight deck of aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during the ongoing conflict with Iran. US Navy/REUTERS

President Trump vowed to hit Iran hard economically, a day after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Washington would impose measures on Tehran that have "never been seen". Here are what experts say are the Trump administration's options.
As Anthropic prepares for what could be one of the biggest IPOs on record, Wall Street is looking further into the future than it commonly does to put a price on the AI company, valuing it based on how much revenue it could generate two years from now.
Nestle is seeking to turn the rise of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs from a threat into a business opportunity, using AI and nutritional science to develop products aimed at millions of consumers taking medicines such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, last year handed Russian authorities details of cryptocurrency donations to Ukrainian fundraising campaigns that were used as evidence to bring terrorism financing charges against a Russian IT specialist, law enforcement documents show.
The risk of an exceptionally strong El Nino and how to adapt has shot up the agenda in company discussions, according to an analysis of filings and earnings calls. Scientists have said a "very strong" El Nino is increasingly likely and ‌could be the most disruptive such event since 1950..

US to tell partners they must pick sides in AI race with China

President Trump shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a visit to Beijing, China. REUTERS/Evan Vucci

The US is preparing to ‌tell dozens of countries they must pick sides in the artificial intelligence race with China, warning they will be excluded from a US-led AI coalition if they also sign up for Beijing's competing framework, according to a US official and an internal draft reviewed by Reuters.

Washington last year launched the Pax Silica initiative aimed at securing supply chains for AI models, semiconductors and critical minerals, amid a fierce technology rivalry with Beijing.

By pressing countries to choose sides, the US hopes to starve China of resources in a race to make the most sophisticated AI, which could be used for military or economic dominance.

Read more

And Finally...

Carabinieri officers pose with three paintings that were recovered after they were stolen from the Magnani Rocca Foundation in Mamiano, Italy. Carabinieri/REUTERS

Italian police have recovered three paintings by French masters Paul ‌Cezanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri Matisse that were stolen from a museum near the northern city of Parma in March, officials said on Friday.

Read more

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