US would help assure Ukraine's security

Plus, Nvidia is working on new AI chip for China.

Audio Articles now available! Download the Reuters App. Daily Briefing Daily Briefing By Kate Turton Hello. We are covering Trump's security assurances to Zelenskiy, along with a possible Gaza ceasefire. Elsewhere, Trump's interest rate demands are putting 'fiscal dominance' in the market spotlight. Plus, our reporters follow one migrant boat's perilous journey across the Mediterranean.  Today's Top News   Trump greets Zelenskiy at the White House, amid negotiations to end the Russian war in Ukraine, in Washington, D.C. August 18, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Russia-Ukraine war President Donald Trump told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that the US would help guarantee Ukraine's security in any deal to end Russia's war there, though the extent of any assistance was not immediately clear. Read our takeaways from yesterday's talks. Correspondent Andrea Shalal tells the Reuters World News podcast that there are many unanswered questions after Zelenskiy's high-stake talks with Trump at the White House. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will co-chair a meeting of Ukraine's coalition of the willing, the French president's office said. In other news Hamas has agreed to a 60-day ceasefire proposal with Israel that includes the return of half the hostages held in Gaza and Israel's release of some Palestinian prisoners, an Egyptian official source said. Israel is studying Hamas' response to the ceasefire proposal. President Donald Trump's approval rating held at 40% in recent weeks, matching the lowest level of his current term, amid weak ratings from Hispanic voters, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Democratic lawmakers in Texas returned to the state, ending a two-week walkout that broke quorum and temporarily blocked Republican efforts to redraw congressional maps at the behest of the president. Residents of a northwestern Pakistani district where devastating floods have killed more than 200 people said they were too scared to go back to their deluged homes as authorities warned of more rains to come. There is an upward trend in India-China relations and Beijing has promised to address New Delhi's needs on rare earths, a top Indian official and a source said, as the neighbours rebuild ties that were damaged by a 2020 border clash. Business & Markets   As US debt swells and the White House leans on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, investors are weighing the risk of "fiscal dominance," a scenario where keeping government financing cheap eclipses the fight against inflation. Air Canada's unionized flight attendants have reached an agreement with the country's largest carrier, ending the first strike by its cabin crew in 40 years that had upended travel plans for hundreds of thousands of passengers. Nvidia is developing a new AI chip for China based on its latest Blackwell architecture that will be more powerful than the H20 model it is currently allowed to sell there, two people briefed on the matter said. S&P Global affirmed its 'AA+' credit rating on the US, saying the revenue from Trump's tariffs will offset the fiscal hit from his recent tax-cut and spending bill. Intel is getting a $2 billion capital injection from SoftBank in a major vote of confidence for the troubled US chipmaker that is in the middle of a turnaround effort. Britain has dropped its demand for the iPhone maker Apple to provide a "backdoor" that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said. The planned $3.9 billion takeover of Deliveroo by US meal delivery firm DoorDash will be reviewed under the European Union's simplified merger procedure, EU Commission documents showed. For more markets news, watch our daily rundown. A decade after EU's migrant crisis, hundreds still dying in Mediterranean   Italy hailed a drop in irregular arrivals of migrants last year as proof its stringent migration policies are working. We tracked one boat's journey - which shows the dangers of the crackdown. Read more And Finally... Kiruna's historic wooden church sits on wheels before being moved to its new site next to the cemetery, in Kiruna, Sweden. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger Sweden's landmark Kiruna Church has begun a two-day trip to a new home, inching down an Arctic road to save its wooden walls from ground subsidence and the expansion of the world's largest underground iron ore mine. Read more Get full access to Reuters.com for just $1/week. Subscribe now. 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