‘They didn’t know that they were Russian’

Weekend Briefing

From Reuters Daily Briefing

By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor

Welcome to the Weekend Briefing. We have a story on one of my favorite topics du jour, the music labels' lawsuits against the companies behind AI tools that you can use to make your own compositions. Our weekend World News podcast goes to Cyprus to visit the Greeks and Turks who gather at the buffer zone in their divided capital for a weekly dose of coffee and politics.

The Russians on the other side of the swap

Vnukovo International Airport, Moscow. Sputnik/Mikhail Voskresensky/Pool via REUTERS

Sleepers and assassins: Here's a story that stood out while I was combing through the accounts of the prisoner swap between the U.S., Russia and other nations: The children of one family of sleeper agents didn't know they were Russian, the Kremlin said. They got the news after their plane landed in Moscow. Also on the flight was an assassin whose release from Germany was the product of a grim moral calculus. Who was not on the flight? Belarusian political prisoners. Here's a list of who remains imprisoned.
And in Ukraine: Russian assaults are raising pressure on a strategic eastern logistics hub as guided bombs and infantry lead to some of Moscow's largest territorial gains since the spring. The push is fueling a surge in civilians fleeing.

A busy two days for the Harris campaign

Next week: So much for my plans to coast through these summer weekend shifts. Kamala Harris will meet with possible running mates for her presidential campaign, and is expected to make her choice by Monday. The list consists of white men with a record of appealing to rural, white or independent voters.
This week: A new Democratic ad campaign taunts Donald Trump for not committing to a debate with Harris, essentially calling him a chicken. Trump subsequently agreed to a Fox News offer for a Sept. 4 debate. Trump falsely told an audience of Black journalists that Harris "turned" Black after identifying as Indian. He also derided one of the moderators when she asked why Black voters should support him, given his racist comments in the past. And JD Vance's childless cat lady is out of the bag.

U.S. increases military presence in Middle East

South: Hamas' leader Ismail Haniyeh was buried in Qatar after his assassination in Tehran. Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility for his death. The U.S. military will deploy more fighter jets and Navy warships to the Middle East as it braces for Iran to make good on its vow to respond to Haniyeh's killing. Israel killed an Al Jazeera journalist in a Gaza airstrike, saying without proof that he was a Hamas operative who took part in the Oct. 7 attacks.
North: Hezbollah resumed rocket and artillery attacks on the Lebanon-Israel border following Israel's killing of the group's military commander in Beirut. Israel's attacks came after a rocket attack killed 12 young people in a Druze village in the occupied Golan Heights. Airlines are avoiding some Mideast airspace.

The kind of stock drop that gives you motion sickness

Uncontrolled descent: Intel shares lost a quarter of their value after the company suspended its dividend and announced 15,000 job cuts. Amazon shares fell after it reported slowing online sales growth. Here's what that might mean for Walmart. The Nasdaq Composite confirmed it was in correction territory.
And a surprise ascent: The U.S. unemployment rate jumped to near a three-year high in July as hiring slowed, raising fears of a deteriorating labor market and an economy vulnerable to recession. And as tired as we all must be about the "when will they…" stories on the Fed and interest rates, here's another one.

Before I forget…

- Famine has taken hold in Sudan's Darfur region, a food-monitoring group said. Floods in one refugee camp threaten to contaminate water and sanitation facilities.
- At least 32 civilians were killed and 63 injured in an explosion on a popular beach in the Somali capital Mogadishu, police said.
- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revoked plea deals agreed to earlier this week with the man accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks and two accomplices.
- Missed warnings and tourism played a part in landslides in the Indian state of Kerala that killed more than 200 people.
- Police will be out in force this weekend and mosques are tightening their security following rioting stoked by the killing of three children in northwest England.
- I could give you a full rundown on the Paris Olympics, but it would take less time to read the collected works of Marcel Proust. I direct you instead to our excellent Olympics page. Do read this piece, one of our latest, on women's boxing, gender and genetics.

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