Sanitation: Major Gulf fighting restarts

Daily Briefing

By Kate Turton

Hello. Iran is getting Chinese shoulder-launched missile systems within weeks, the top US commander for the Middle East warns troops their phones could be confiscated, and Russia's FSB charges Telegram founder Durov with facilitating terrorism.

Plus, OpenAI's rogue agent compromised a customer at a second tech firm.

Today's Top News

A man looks on near damage at a site belonging to Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). Nineveh province, Iraq. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Khalid Al-Mousily

Middle East

The US launched its first airstrikes in the Middle East since suspending its bombing campaign last week, hitting Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq jointly with Saudi Arabia. Foreign Policy Editor Don Durfee talks through the calculus for Washington on today's episode of the Reuters World News podcast.
Iran is expected to receive a first shipment out of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defense missile launchers within weeks, three sources familiar with the deal told Reuters, as it rebuilds its defenses amid war with the United States.
Meanwhile, the top US commander for the Middle East has warned troops that cellphone videos shared online can help Iran target American bases, and sources told Reuters some deployed personnel could soon be ordered to surrender their phones.

In other news

Rescuers were frantically searching for survivors of a 7.1-magnitude earthquake that shook southern Japan, killing at least 13 people, knocking out power to thousands of homes and rupturing roads across the ‌region.
Temperatures were set to soar again in France and Spain in a fourth heatwave of the summer, increasing the threat from wildfires that have scorched through forests and killed wildlife. Our graphics team maps the wildfires outside Bordeaux and Madrid.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said that it had charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorist activities, ‌and that it had issued an international warrant for his arrest. Here's what you need to know about Durov.
A small California-based drone maker says one of its sea vessels sailed close enough to a Chinese warship operating inside the Philippines' exclusive ‌economic zone to capture what it believes is the first footage of its kind recorded by a private US firm.
United Nations experts have found that Boeing 727s linked by Reuters to a US military contractor's business network transported mercenaries, weapons and drones for Sudan's Rapid Support Forces, according to a draft U.N. report due to be published in September.

Business & Markets

A humanoid robot at a robotics laboratory during a government-organized media trip in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. REUTERS/Go Nakamura

The Trump administration unveiled bans that target imports of new Chinese robots and power inverters, seeking to protect the US AI buildout from national security threats and reshore key industries slated for explosive growth.
The rogue agent that escaped from OpenAI and went on a days-long hacking spree at the AI firm Hugging Face also compromised a customer at a second tech company — New York-based Modal Labs — according to a Modal executive and two other sources familiar with the matter.
The rise of young Chinese renters sharing beds to cut costs and save cash offers a revealing snapshot of an economy where consumers remain cautious and jobs feel increasingly insecure for many young workers.
BMW said it will cut several thousand jobs in Germany by the end of 2027 ‌under a voluntary redundancy programme, the latest German carmaker to axe staff in response to squeezed profits and weak demand.
The Federal Reserve is seen as more likely to leave interest rates steady even as a growing number of its policymakers fret openly about inflation, but the outcome is unusually uncertain because of the no-guidance regime adopted by US central bank chief Kevin Warsh.

"Ugly and rusty," Venezuela's refineries are relics that will be hard to revive

Fishing boats are moored down the coast from the Paraguana Refining Center (CRP) in Punta Cardon, Venezuela. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/File Photo

The Paraguana Refining Center in Western Venezuela once symbolized the country's oil wealth and its ambition to turn vast crude reserves into fuels and export revenue.

Today, the 955,000-barrel-per-day complex in Falcon state runs at a fraction of capacity.

Reuters reporters visited the site before last month's earthquakes and saw festering decay and little ongoing maintenance at the facility, underscoring the monumental challenges Venezuela faces in restoring its oil infrastructure.

The reporting revealed festering decay and little ongoing maintenance at all three facilities, underscoring the monumental challenges Venezuela faces in restoring its oil infrastructure.

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And Finally...

Chefs present the Twinkle Twinkle Tangy Coconut Mousse and Twinkle Twinkle Sweet Coconut Mousse desserts. Singapore. REUTERS/Edgar Su

Pop Mart, the Beijing-based maker of ‌collectible "blind box" toys including the toothy-grinned Labubu, is diversifying its business by opening its first international bakery in Singapore.

The toymaker is turning its best-known characters into three-dimensional edible treats, from black sesame Labubu popsicles to double cheesecake Molly.

Read more

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