| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Monday, May 3, 2021 by Robert MacMillan | Hello Here's what you need to know. India’s COVID-19 cases near 20 million, what’s in store for Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, and Epic Games will see Apple in court | | | | | Today's biggest stories  Members of a family wait to be transported by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the Rio Grande river into the United States. April 27, 2021. REUTERS/Go Nakamura U.S. The United States will reunite four migrant families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border during the Trump administration through an emergency process known as "humanitarian parole." Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said they would be “the first of many.”
Four people were killed and more than two dozen injured on Sunday when a boat suspected of attempting to smuggle migrants into California broke apart off the San Diego coast. The boat had been pummeled to pieces by the surf by the time rescue boats arrived.
The three largest U.S. drug distributors, accused of helping fuel the opioid crisis, will defend themselves in a trial in West Virginia against charges that they ignored signs that their drugs were being diverted to illegal channels, flooding the state with hundreds of millions of highly addictive pills.
A Texas Republican backed by former President Donald Trump advanced to a runoff election to fill a House of Representatives vacancy left by the death of her husband. The outcome may deprive Democrats of their best shot at winning a Republican-held House seat this year. |  A woman stands in front of a closed gate of a vaccination center, Mumbai, India, May 3, 2021. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas WORLD India is nearing 20 million COVID-19 cases and medical experts say actual numbers may be five to 10 times higher than the official tally. Hospitals are at capacity, medical oxygen supplies have run short and morgues and crematoriums have been swamped by the sick and the dead.
There are some things on which New Zealand and China “do not, cannot, and will not agree,” but those differences do not need to define their relationship, said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, in a speech that some see as a confirmation of the country’s friendlier or more neutral stance toward its top trading partner.
G7 foreign ministers meet in person in London for the first time since the pandemic began. Britain, which holds the group’s rotating presidency, sees the meeting as a chance to reassert the West’s influence and address coronavirus recovery, climate change and how to deal with China and Russia.
Pandemic travel restrictions kept rhino poachers at bay in South Africa, but they have returned with the easing of those limits in November, wildlife parks say. An official with the WWF conservation organization said there have been “serious numbers” of poaching incidents in the past few months, but declined to say how many had occurred. | BUSINESS “We have been reducing our position in Berkshire for a number of years because it appears that we can make more money than he can.” That’s the read on Warren Buffett from one investor, highlighting challenges facing Berkshire Hathaway shareholders in determining how the conglomerate and its revered chief executive will handle a thicket of post-pandemic challenges.
“Fortnite” maker Epic Games faces quite the battle against Apple in an antitrust trial starting today, but win or lose, Epic may have accomplished a major goal: Drawing Apple squarely into the debate over whether and how massive technology companies should be regulated.
Verizon might have found a taker for its media assets, which it declared nearly worthless with a $4.6 billion writedown in 2018. Apollo Global Management is close to buying them in a deal that could be valued close to $5 billion.
Intel will focus less on stock buybacks, its chief executive says. Pat Gelsinger’s comment came during a “60 Minutes” interview in response to a question comparing how much Intel has spent on repurchases compared to its investment in research and development.
| | | | | | | | | Quote of the day "Passions are running high in football but there are ways to protest and make your voice heard without hurting or endangering others.” Nigel Huddleston UK Minister for Tourism and Sport Government condemns Manchester United fan violence | | | | Video of the day  Ancient Maya cave reveals mysterious painted hand prints The prints, in red and black and likely made by the hands of adolescents, are more than 1,200 years old and located in a cave near the northern tip of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. | | | | And finally… They’re dancing in Wuhan again  The Wuhan Strawberry Music Festival made its return more than a year after the city that was the flashpoint of the pandemic went into lockdown. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
