Daily Briefing

Putin and Xi deepen partnership and scold the US, Trump and his allies lay the groundwork to contest a potential election loss, and Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico was in "very serious" but stable condition after assassination attempt.

Plus, the oceanic voyages of the remarkable baobab tree.

By Kate Turton

Today's Top News

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend an official welcoming ceremony in Beijing. May 16, 2024. Sputnik/Sergei Bobylev/Pool via REUTERS

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to deepen their "strategic partnership" while scolding the United States for a series of moves that they said threatened their countries.
Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico was in "very serious" but stable condition after he was shot five times in an assassination attempt that laid bare deep political divisions in the country. Listen as Rachel Armstrong discusses the rising trend of political violence in Europe.
AI videos are spreading fast in India as the election progresses, highlighting the growing threat of misinformation in the world's most populous nation. A World Economic Forum survey in January claimed the risk from misinformation in India is higher than the risk from infectious diseases or illicit economic activity.
The incoming Dutch government led by nationalist Geert Wilders' PVV party will look to opt out of European Union migration rules, as it says it is facing an asylum crisis. Wilders reached a deal to form what is set to be the most right-wing government in the Netherlands in decades.
New Caledonia's Pacific neighbors called for de-escalation and a return to dialogue between France and the island territory's political parties, after a third night of violent riots that have killed four people and led to hundreds of arrests.

US NEWS

US President Joe Biden and Republican rival Donald Trump agreed to face off in two debates on June 27 and Sept. 10, setting up the highest stakes moments yet of the race for the White House.
Democrats are deeply divided over Biden's handling of both the war in Gaza and the US campus protests against it, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found, fraying the coalition that he relied on four years ago to defeat Trump.
Trump's lawyers plan to resume their cross-examination of his ex-fixer Michael Cohen, aiming to undermine his testimony that Trump was intimately involved in buying a porn star's silence over an alleged sexual encounter.

Business & Markets

US stocks are at fresh records, bitcoin is soaring and investors are spurning insurance against portfolio declines as evidence that the economy is headed for a so-called soft landing whets market participants' appetite for risk.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams welcomed the arrival of softer consumer inflation data, he told Reuters, but said that positive news is not enough to call for the US central bank to cut interest rates sometime soon.
A Reuters review of private Goldman Sachs documents, interviews with program participants and public disclosures show how the bank leveraged its philanthropic 10,000 Small Businesses program to advocate for its own interests.
Package holidays and better-located airports are helping win customers, even as concerns linger about the high cost of the strategy - this is how easyJet's bet on holidays paid off.
Meta's social media sites Facebook and Instagram will be investigated for potential breaches of EU online content rules relating to child safety, EU regulators said, a move that could lead to hefty fines.
As the US intensifies efforts to reduce trade with China by hiking tariffs, it has greatly boosted imports from Vietnam, which relies on Chinese input for much of its exports, data show. The surge in the China-Vietnam-US trade has vastly widened trade imbalances.

Trump, allies are laying the groundwork to contest potential election loss

Supporters of former Trump in New Jersey. May 11, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith

Donald Trump and his allies are laying the groundwork to contest a potential loss in November, stoking doubts about the election's legitimacy even as opinion polls show the Republican presidential candidate leading in battleground states.

In recent interviews, Trump has refused to commit to accepting the election results.

And Finally...

The sun rises behind baobab trees. Madagascar, August 30, 2019. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

The baobab tree is a distinctive sight on the landscape. When its contorted branches are leafless during the dry season, they resemble jumbled roots emanating from a thick trunk, making it appear as if someone had yanked the tree from the ground, flipped it on its head and jammed it back into the earth.

But the origins and history of the baobab - found in Madagascar and parts of Africa and Australia - have been something of a mystery.

Read more here.

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