| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Tuesday, May 10, 2022 by Linda Noakes | Hello Here's what you need to know. Ukraine's death toll is "thousands higher" than reported, Germany plans for a gas crisis, and Tesla halts most output at its Shanghai plant | | | | | Today's biggest stories  A first responder works at the site of a missile strike in Odesa, Ukraine, in this handout image released May 10, 2022 RUSSIA AND UKRAINE AT WAR Firefighters battled blazes in Odesa after Russian missiles pounded the Ukrainian port, and Ukraine said Russian forces were pummeling a steel works in Mariupol where at least 100 civilians were still holed up.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that trade at the country's ports was at a standstill and urged the international community to take immediate steps to end a Russian blockade to allow wheat shipments and prevent a global food crisis.
U.S. congressional Democrats agreed to rush $39.8 billion in additional aid for Ukraine, two sources familiar with the proposal said, easing fears a delayed vote could interrupt the flow of U.S. weapons to the Kyiv government.
Thousands more civilians have been killed in Ukraine during nearly 11 weeks of war there than the official U.N. death toll of 3,381, the head of the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country said. The World Health Organization's European chief said that at least 3,000 people had died because they had been unable to access treatments for chronic diseases.
RuTube, Russia's answer to YouTube, was crippled for a second day by a cyber attack whose timing it linked to this week's anniversary celebrations of victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.
Here's what you need to know about the conflict right now
|  Supporters of Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. gesture and celebrate outside his headquarters in Mandaluyong City, Philippines, May 10, 2022. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan
WORLD
The Philippines woke to a new but familiar political landscape, after an election triumph by Ferdinand Marcos Jr. paved the way for a once unimaginable return to the country's highest office for its most notorious political dynasty. We look at the fall and rise of the Marcos family.
Sri Lanka gave emergency powers to its military and police to detain people without warrants, after a day of clashes that killed seven people and injured more than 200, in violence that prompted Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to resign.
China's Foreign Ministry slammed the United States for changing the wording on the State Department website about Taiwan, saying "political manipulation" will not succeed in changing the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. The website has removed wording both on not supporting Taiwan independence and on acknowledging Beijing's position that Taiwan is part of China.
South Korea's new president, Yoon Suk-yeol, said that North Korea's weapons programs pose a threat but that he is ready to provide an "audacious" economic plan if the North is committed to denuclearization. Yoon gave the remarks in his inauguration speech after being sworn in at a ceremony in Seoul.
Dozens of inmates were killed during a riot as rival gangs clashed in a jail in the Ecuadorean city of Santo Domingo, the latest episode of prison violence that has rocked the South American country.
U.S.
Voters in Republican-leaning Nebraska and West Virginia go to the polls today to pick candidates for U.S. Congress and other state races, with multiple matchups again testing former President Donald Trump's sway with voters. Here are the races to watch.
President Joe Biden will use a speech on inflation as an opportunity to turn the Democratic Party's top political liability ahead of the midterm elections into an argument against Republicans.
In the early days of the COVID pandemic, pulmonologist Joseph Varon offered an opinion that made headlines around the world. He was fighting two wars, he said: one against COVID and one against stupidity. As the United States nears the grim milestone of 1 million coronavirus-linked deaths, Varon, chief of critical care and COVID at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, said only one of those battles has been won.
Amtrak said it is boosting train services ahead of an expected busy summer travel season and as rail demand returns, with high gasoline prices encouraging more people to take trains.
An escaped murder suspect and the female corrections officer who allegedly helped him break out of an Alabama jail were taken into custody in Indiana after a car chase, authorities said. The officer, who suffered an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, was taken to hospital and later died.
| BUSINESS German officials are quietly preparing for any sudden halt in Russian gas supplies with an emergency package that could include taking control of critical firms, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Germany and Qatar have hit difficulties in talks over long-term liquefied natural gas supply deals amid differences over key conditions, including the duration of any contract.
Tesla has halted most of its production at its Shanghai plant due to problems securing parts for its electric vehicles, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters, the latest in a series of difficulties for the factory.
Sony said it planned to sell 18 million PlayStation 5 consoles this business year as robust game sales helped it more than double fourth-quarter operating profit.
Shares in Swedish Match soared after U.S. rival Philip Morris said it was in talks to buy the Stockholm-based tobacco products company, betting on a growing market for alternatives to cigarettes.
Foreign food-delivery workers in the United Arab Emirates staged a mass walk out, calling for better pay and working conditions in a rare instance of industrial action in the country. Drivers for Talabat, the Middle East unit of Delivery Hero, began refusing to make deliveries in Dubai, the country's financial center and a regional tourism hub.
Bitcoin has scant experience with rising interest rates, posing perils for investors looking to capitalize on its dramatic drop. The cryptocurrency has tanked along with other risk assets such as tech stocks after the Fed amped up rates last week, sending them on a trajectory that's expected to pass 3% early next year.
| | | | | | | | | | | Video of the day  Jet suit paramedic completes first trial flight A pioneering British jet suit company is giving super-human powers to emergency responders in remote locations in the north of England. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
