"Uncertainty and anxiety" amid Middle East escalation

Reuters Daily Briefing <dailybriefing@thomsonreuters.com>
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2026-07-17 12:59

Daily Briefing

By Claire Beers

Hello. Iran launches fresh attacks after sixth day of US strikes, Trump's fiery China allegations may threaten superpower truce and Xi pitches China as leader of new global AI order, challenging US dominance.

Plus, ousted defense minister lays bare rift at heart of Ukraine's war effort.

Today's Top News

A billboard depicting President Trump laid in a coffin is displayed on a building in Tehran, Iran. REUTERS/WANA/Majid Asgaripour

Iran said it launched fresh strikes on US facilities in the Middle East, including the first direct attack in Syria, after a sixth straight night of US strikes on Iranian military facilities.
A new wave of US attacks on Iran has plunged Iranians back into deep uncertainty and anxiety after a period of relative calm while a shaky ceasefire held. Iranians contacted by Reuters said economic problems were mounting and they were consumed by worries over what will happen next.
President Donald Trump's renewed accusations that China meddled in US elections could complicate his fragile truce with Chinese leader Xi Jinping just two months before a planned summit in Washington. White House Reporter Bo Erickson tells the Reuters World News podcast why the data Trump is declassifying is less alarming than it sounds.
Andy Burnham, nicknamed the 'King of the North,' will become leader of Britain's governing Labour Party on Friday, the final ‌step before becoming its seventh prime minister in a decade on a pledge to thwart the rise of the populist Reform UK.
Heavy smoke from hundreds of wildfires in Canada enveloped a swath of the US from the Midwest to the Northeast, prompting warnings from officials that residents should stay indoors wherever possible ‌and avoid the acrid, unhealthy air.
The Trump administration moved to tighten the duration of visas for foreign students, cultural exchange visitors and journalists. The new rule caps student and exchange visas at four years and journalist visas at 240 days.
Seven American aid workers who had been in Congo to fight ‌the Ebola outbreak are quarantining at an isolation facility in Kenya after the US government introduced new travel restrictions, the head of a US charity employing them told Reuters.

Business & Markets

The British Red Arrows display team flies at the Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, Britain. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Spiraling security risks are expected to push defense to the forefront of Britain's Farnborough Airshow, as aerospace and arms makers struggle to keep pace with demand for weapons while cementing a fragile recovery in civil jet and engine production.
Chinese President Xi Jinping cast Beijing as the champion of a new global AI order, using China's premier tech conference to promote open-source technology and challenge US influence over ‌the rules governing the fast-moving sector.
SpaceX's Starship rocket triggered a last-second abort before liftoff for its flight ‌test on Thursday as some of its 33 engines failed to start. Shares of SpaceX fell ⁠about 3% in aftermarket trading following the scrubbed launch.
US-based Cal-Mex food chain Chipotle opened its first restaurant in ‌Mexico on Thursday. Chipotle's entry into Mexico follows two unsuccessful forays by fast-food chain Taco Bell, whose efforts were rebuffed ‌as locals snubbed their offerings in favor of authentic Mexican products.
The works council of German carmaker Volkswagen said it will host extraordinary staff assemblies in August with CEO Oliver Blume, allowing workers to grill him on plans that threaten up to 140,000 jobs.

Ousted defense minister lays bare rift at heart of Ukraine's war effort

Ukraine's Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov speaks at a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine. REUTERS/Alina Smutko

An extraordinary outburst by outgoing Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov laid bare a rift at the heart of Ukraine's war effort, pitting a new guard pushing technology as the way to defeat Russia against the head of the armed forces.

The 35-year-old, who was ousted this week in a government overhaul just six months into his job, aimed ‌a blistering tirade at General Oleksandr Syrskyi, whom he accused of stirring up intrigue, blocking his initiatives and sabotaging his work.

It is the first time the tensions have burst into the public eye.

Read more

And Finally...

Two 'Likweli' monkeys of a newly-identified species of Colobus monkey, discovered in Lomami National Park. REUTERS/Daniel Rosengren, Frankfurt Zoological Society

Scientists have identified a new species of monkey in Democratic Republic of Congo's rainforest. The discovery marks only the fifth new monkey species identified in Africa in the last ⁠75 years.

Read more

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