Musk v Trump

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Daily Briefing

By Kate Turton

Hello. Musk calls Trump's tax-cut and spending bill 'a disgusting abomination', and higher US metals tariffs kick in. Elsewhere, global automakers warn of production halts without China's critical minerals.

Plus, scientists in Japan develop plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours.*

*Are you interested in more stories like this one? Sign up to the Reuters Beacon, a new limited-run weekly newsletter focusing on innovative ideas and solutions-based journalism.

Today's Top News

Satellite images of Belaya airfield before and after the drone attack. Planet Labs PBC & Capella Space/Handout

Around the world

Satellite imagery of a Russian air base taken shortly after Ukraine carried out a drone attack deep inside Russia over the weekend shows several strategic bombers were destroyed and badly damaged, according to three open source analysts. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy said the risk of escalation from the war in Ukraine was "going way up".
South Korea's new liberal President Lee Jae-myung pledged to raise the country from what he described as the near destruction caused by a martial law attempt and revive a struggling economy facing global protectionism.
In his first month, Pope Leo has led some two dozen public events but not made notable appointments, nor announced plans for foreign trips, nor said where he will live at the Vatican. It's a stark contrast to when Francis was selected.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that abandoning uranium enrichment was "100%" against the country's interests, rejecting a central US demand in talks to resolve a decades-long dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will not give out any aid as it presses Israel to boost civilian safety beyond the perimeter of its distribution sites, a day after dozens of Palestinians seeking aid were killed.

United States

Elon Musk plunged into the congressional debate over Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill, calling it a "disgusting abomination" that will increase the federal deficit. Several fiscally conservative Republicans in the Senate supported the views Musk expressed in social media posts.
Trump's administration rescinded guidance issued during Joe Biden's tenure requiring hospitals to provide abortions to women in medical emergencies regardless of various state bans on the procedure.
A purported New Orleans jail escapee asked Trump and "the world" for help to get a defense lawyer to prove his innocence, in a social media video. Antoine Massey is one of two fugitives still at large from a May 16 jailbreak.

Business & Markets

Workers transport soil containing rare earth elements at a port in China. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Panic is setting in as global automakers join their US counterparts to warn about the impact of China's export curbs on critical minerals. Listen to Lewis Jackson on today's Reuters World News podcast as he digs into China's domination of the industry.
Several European auto supplier plants and production lines have been shut down due to a shortage of rare earths caused by China imposing restrictions on exports, Europe's auto supplier association CLEPA said, warning of further outages to come.
As Washington doubled its tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, Trump's administration also expects trading partners to make "best offers" to avoid other punishing import levies from taking effect in early July. Watch our daily market rundown.
Proliferating conflict zones are an increasing burden on airline operations and profitability, executives say, as carriers grapple with missiles and drones, airspace closures and location spoofing.
The Bank of Japan is considering slowing the pace of tapering in its bond purchases from next fiscal year onward, said four sources familiar with its thinking, a move that would signal its focus on avoiding big bond market disruptions.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is due to take the first steps toward producing new rules on which foreign firms qualify for less stringent investor disclosure requirements.

Young South Korean women help propel liberal candidate Lee to victory

Supporters of Lee Jae-myung cheer during an election campaign rally. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo

Young women in South Korea voted in droves to help new liberal President Lee Jae-myung win Tuesday's election, reflecting the entrenched gender divide over politics in the country where more young men backed conservative candidates.

Around 58% of women voters in their 20s and 57% in their 30s voted for Lee of the Democratic Party.

Read more

And Finally...

Sample of colored ocean-degradable plastic being stirred and dissolved in saltwater, Japan May 27, 2025. REUTERS/Manami Yamada

Researchers in Japan have developed a plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours, offering up a potential solution for a modern-day scourge polluting oceans and harming wildlife.

While scientists have long experimented with biodegradable plastics, researchers from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and the University of Tokyo say their new material breaks down much more quickly and leaves no residual trace.

Read more

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