The Islamic State's comeback bid

Weekend Briefing

From Reuters Daily Briefing

By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor

Happy new year and welcome to the Weekend Briefing. I particularly recommend our Moldova stories in this week's edition – which show us just how cold a war can be. Our World News podcast trains its lens on the great photos our journalists shot in 2024, and our latest City Memo takes you to Mexico City.

The Islamic State's comeback bid

Mosul, Iraq, 2014. REUTERS/File Photo

Inspiration to violence: The Army veteran who flew a black IS flag on a truck that he rammed into New Year's revelers in New Orleans shows how the extremist group retains the ability to provoke followers despite years of losses to a U.S.-led military coalition. And law-enforcement and intelligence agencies worry that the attack on Bourbon Street will inspire copycats.
Guns: Police identified the man found dead in an exploded Tesla Cybertruck in Las Vegas as a decorated active-duty Army soldier from Colorado. Matthew Livelsberger killed himself with a gunshot to the mouth. A man shot 12 people to death in a small town in Montenegro before killing himself. The parents of a boy who last year killed 10 people in a primary school in Belgrade were sentenced 14.5 years and three years in prison.

Moldova warns of security crisis

Cold: Tens of thousands of people in the Moldovan breakaway republic of Transdniestria were cut off from Russia's gas supply after Ukraine rejected doing business with Moscow. In Transdniestria, which supports Russia, all industry except food production has shut down and there is no heat or hot water. Slovakia said it might retaliate against Ukraine for the loss of Russian gas.
Ukraine: The U.S. announced nearly $6 billion in additional military and budget aid for Kyiv, while President Zelenskiy said Donald Trump is capable of stopping Putin, "or, to put it more fairly, help us stop Putin."

Getting acquainted with Syria's new government

Damascus: Germany's and France's foreign ministers met Syria's de facto leader, urging a peaceful transition of power. The trip was meant to send a message of cautious optimism to the Islamist rebels. Syria's foreign minister in turn visited Saudi Arabia, which supported the rebels at the start of the civil war in Syria, but more recently had been trying to normalize ties with Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Palestinians: Israel struck dozens of targets over the past day in attacks that Gaza health authorities said killed nearly 100 people. Israeli mediators resumed talks in Doha brokered by Qatar and Egypt to reach a ceasefire. A Palestinian man and his son were killed in Jenin in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian security forces denied killing him. The Biden administration proposed selling $8 billion in arms to Israel despite calls for an embargo.

Biden blocks Nippon Steel's attempt to buy U.S. Steel

Corporate: The president's move probably will prove a fatal blow to the $14.9 billion takeover proposal. The U.S. surgeon general said alcoholic drinks should carry warnings about cancer risks. Liquor makers' shares fell after the announcement. Citigroup and Bank of America joined other U.S. lenders in leaving a group of global banks that have pledged to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. A record number of activist investors joined shareholder rebellions in 2024, and bankers, lawyers and analysts think even more will do so this year. Expect tariffs to be a big topic at CES this year.
Legal: Apple will settle a lawsuit claiming that Siri routinely recorded their private conversations and that it disclosed those conversations to third parties such as advertisers. A U.S. judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the former Nestle Waters North America of defrauding its customers by labeling its Poland Spring water as spring water. Hain Celestial must face a baby-food labeling lawsuit that accused the company of failing to disclose the alleged presence of arsenic.

Before I forget…

- Donald Trump must be sentenced in the Stormy Daniels criminal hush-money case on Jan. 10, days before his inauguration, a judge ruled. Jail time is unlikely. Trump complained that American flags would still be lowered to half-staff in honor of the late President Jimmy Carter when he takes office.
- South Korea's presidential guards and military troops prevented authorities from arresting impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol. The corruption investigation authority is considering its next steps.
- The chief minister of Manipur in northeastern India apologized for unrest between two ethnic groups that has killed at least 250 people and prompted criticism of Narendra Modi's federal government.
- Greenland's prime minister emphasized his desire to pursue independence from Denmark. The regional government has twice rejected Donald Trump's offers to buy the island.
- Artificial Intelligence is the future of legal scholarship, according to a Suffolk University law dean. He used ChatGPT to write the article that says this.
- A Dutch project released a list of names of nearly half a million suspected wartime Nazi collaborators after a law restricting public access to the archive expired. Most people on the list are dead, and only a fifth of them ever appeared before a court.

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.

Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement