Biden vows to fight on

Weekend Briefing

From Reuters Daily Briefing

By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor

Welcome to the Weekend Briefing. I'm glad to be back after two weeks spent with family amid incredibly humid weather and well-chilled whiskies and vinhos verdes. We have a strong weekend edition of the World News podcast on Ukraine's shortage of 155mm artillery shells and an Econ World podcast episode on everybody's favorite theme in economics: Risk. Have a listen.

Biden vows to fight on

Joe Biden leaves Air Force One at Dover Air Force Base. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

Democrats have other ideas: Some officials think it's only a matter of time before Joe Biden takes himself out of the race, though nobody can say how the party's presidential-nomination process will unfold if he drops out. Reports say he's taking seriously calls within the party to quit because of concerns about his cognitive ability, his age and his health. Fundraisers are on hold and July donations plummeted, sources say.
The kinder, gentler Donald Trump: His appeal at the Republican National Convention to unity following his near-assassination last week hinted at a changed character. The transformation lasted about 30 minutes before he returned to the hectoring and strident campaigner we know so well. Trump will hold his first campaign rally since the shooting, appearing with his vice-presidential pick, Sen. J.D. Vance, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Global tech outage disrupts everything

Reboot camp: It's the CrowdStrike software update wot did it. The cybersecurity firm's action grounded flights, forced broadcasters off air, disrupted market trading and left customers without access to healthcare, banking and many other services. Experts and analysts, as you might expect, are warning of the perils of an increasingly connected online world.
AI roundup: Workday failed to get a U.S. judge to dismiss a proposed class-action lawsuit that claims the artificial-intelligence-powered software the company uses to screen out job applicants for other businesses incorporates existing biases. And the U.S. Federal Trade Commission wants to know more about Amazon's deal to hire top executives and researchers from AI startup Adept. This follows a broader review of partnerships between big tech companies and AI firms.

Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories are illegal, World Court says

Israel reacts: The foreign ministry rejected the International Court of Justice's non-binding ruling as fundamentally wrong and one-sided. "The Jewish nation cannot be an occupier in its own land," Benjamin Netanyahu's office said. Finance Minister and settler Bezalel Smotrich said, "Sovereignty now," apparently code for formal annexation of the occupied West Bank. Read more in our story out today about West Bank settlers and their ties to U.S. Republicans.
The latest on the war: Israel's aerial and tank shelling of central Gaza intensified while fighting raged in Rafah. Israel's military is set to issue call-up notices to 1,000 members of the ultra-Orthodox community after the Supreme Court ended their longstanding exemption for Jewish seminary students from service. Netanyahu will address the U.S. Congress next week and might meet President Biden.

Evan Gershkovich gets 16 years in Russian penal colony

'Sham conviction': The Wall Street Journal attacked the verdict on its reporter, calling it disgraceful. The 32-year-old Gershkovich was accused of trying to gather sensitive information about a tank factory. He was the first U.S. journalist accused of spying in Russia since the Cold War. Who are Russia's imprisoned Americans? And who might feature in a Russia-U.S. prisoner swap?
The latest from Ukraine: Startups are developing AI systems to help fly a fleet of drones, using them for target identification, terrain navigation and programs enabling drones to operate in "swarms." Ukraine's military mobilization campaign is redoubling efforts despite waning enthusiasm. And Kyiv proposed its first wartime tax increases to secure new weapons and pay military salaries.

Before I forget…

Bangladesh imposed a curfew and three people were killed as police cracked down on student-led protests against government job quotas despite a ban on public gatherings, local media said.
Fifty years after the violent division of Cyprus into Greek and Turkish zones, reunification remains a dream. That hasn't stopped the Traitors Club from meeting once a week in Nicosia to wonder "what if?"
A North Korean official visiting Russia drowned while swimming in a pond outside Moscow, Russian media reported.
Gambia's parliament rejected a bill that would have ended a ban on female genital mutilation. The lawmaker behind the proposal said he was upholding cultural and religious prerogatives.
Alberto Fujimori, who governed Peru with an iron fist and fled the country amid corruption scandals and human rights violations, plans to run for president. The 85-year-old Fujimori got out of jail last December.
The first Black head of government in Europe quit as first minister of Wales after just four months in office. Vaughan Gething's departure came after ministerial resignations from the devolved Welsh government in protest over his leadership.

Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters.com

Listen to the Reuters World News podcast

Weekend Briefing is sent once a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here.

Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here.

Reuters Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement