Tuesday Morning Briefing

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People walk out of a support centre at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain, May 23, 2017. REUTERS/Jon Super


Manchester attack

 

A suicide bomber killed at least 22 people, including some children, and wounded 59 others as fans streamed out of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England. Police tweeted that they arrested a 23-year-old man in connection with the bombing and confirmed the attacker died in the arena. It’s the deadliest militant assault in Britain since four British Muslims killed 52 people in suicide bombings on London's transit system in July 2005.

"We ran and people were screaming around us and pushing on the stairs to go outside and people were falling down, girls were crying, and we saw these women being treated by paramedics having open wounds on their legs ... it was just chaos," said Sebastian Diaz, 19.

 

Prime Minister Theresa May called an emergency meeting with intelligence chiefs. Grande, 23, later said on Twitter: "broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words."

 

'Pls help me...': Parents hunt for missing kids after blast

 

Video: Chaos at Manchester Arena

 

Manchester attack prompts security reevaluations worldwide

 

Follow live updates from Reuters

 


White House

 

Today the White House will ask Republicans who control the U.S. Congress - and federal purse strings - to slash spending on healthcare and food assistance programs for the poor. More than $800 billion would be cut from the Medicaid program for the poor and more than $192 billion from food stamps.

 

Factbox: The key points of Trump’s 2018 budget proposal

 

Trump talked up the prospects of peace between Israelis and Palestinians saying he believed both sides were committed to a historic deal. But he offered no concrete proposals on how to get there.

 


Business


Trump's proposal to sell half of the United States' strategic oil reserve surprised energy markets since it counters OPEC's efforts to control supply in order to boost prices.

 

OPEC will likely agree to extend production cuts for another nine months, delegates said on Tuesday as the oil producer group meets this week to debate how to tackle a global glut of crude.

 

Allegations that Canadian firm Bombardier dumped newly designed CSeries passenger jets in the United States at a steep loss have threatened a sale of F/A-18 warplanes to Ottawa, sending Boeing scrambling to save the deal. Some analysts say Boeing carelessly put at risk billions of dollars of defense work or pandered to growing protectionism.

 

Hong Kong police arrested 21 Uber drivers for illegal car-hiring as part of a clamp down against the company’s operations in the city.  

 


North Korea

 

U.S.-based experts doubted the reliability of the relatively new solid-fuel type “medium-range” Pukguksong-2 missile North Korea launched Sunday. U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the test did not demonstrate a new capability, or one that could threaten the United States directly. But the test was North Korea's second in a week and South Korea's new liberal government said it dashed its hopes for peace.

 

South Korea's military fired warning shots at a suspected drone from North Korea amid tension over the latest missile test.

 

Cyber security firm Symantec Corp said it was "highly likely" a hacking group affiliated with North Korea was behind the WannaCry cyber attack this month that infected more than 300,000 computers worldwide and disrupted hospitals, banks and schools across the globe.

 

Raytheon and Lockheed Martin are working with Japanese partners on rival projects to develop new radars that will enhance Japan's shield against any North Korean missile strike, government and defense industry sources in Tokyo told Reuters.

 


Wider Image - Anticipating Taiwan's same-sex marriage ruling

Solo Lee (R), 32, an artist's agent and Lisa Cho, 25, an administrative assistant, pose for a photograph in New Taipei City, Taiwan, May 14, 2017. "In my view, love is simply a goodness, it makes people happy," Lee said. "We are the same as heterosexuals in love: we only love one person." REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

 


U.S.

St. Paul’s School, an elite New Hampshire prep school, acknowledged that 13 former members of its staff engaged in sexual misconduct with students in incidents dating back decades, following an independent review by a Boston law firm.

 


Technology

A Google artificial intelligence program defeated a Chinese grand master at the ancient board game Go, a major win for Google's AI ambitions as it looks to woo Beijing to gain re-entry into the country.