| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Monday, June 6, 2022 by Linda Noakes | Hello Here's what you need to know. The U.S. ambassador tells Russia not to close the embassy, at least 50 are killed in a church in Nigeria, and Boris Johnson faces a confidence vote
Plus, read our special report on how crypto giant Binance became a key payment provider for the world’s largest darknet drugs market | | | | | Today's biggest stories  Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visits a position of Ukrainian service members in Soledar, Donetsk region, June 5, 2022. HANDOUT/Ukrainian Presidential Press Service RUSSIA AND UKRAINE AT WAR Intense fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces raged in the streets of the industrial city of Sievierodonetsk in a pivotal battle for advantage in eastern Ukraine, the provincial governor said.
The Ukrainian defenders had over the weekend regained control over about half the city just as the Russians appeared on the verge of victory.
A Russian general was killed in eastern Ukraine, a Russian state media journalist said, adding to the string of high-ranking military casualties sustained by Moscow.
Britain will supply Ukraine with multiple-launch rocket systems that can strike targets up to 80 km away, in a move that was coordinated with the United States.
Russia should not close the U.S. embassy despite the crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine because the world's two biggest nuclear powers must continue to talk, the U.S. ambassador to Moscow was quoted as saying.
Here's what you need to know about the conflict right now |  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie Johnson leave after the National Service of Thanksgiving held at St Paul's Cathedral as part of celebrations marking the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth, in London, June 3, 2022. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
WORLD
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will face a confidence vote later today, after a growing number of lawmakers in the governing Conservative Party questioned the British leader's flagging authority over the 'partygate' scandal. We look at who could replace Johnson if he is ousted.
South Korea and the United States said they fired eight surface-to-surface missiles off South Korea's east coast, responding to a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles launched by North Korea.
Gunmen attacked a Catholic church in southwest Nigeria during mass, killing at least 50 people including women and children, according to a hospital doctor and media reports.
Firefighters in Bangladesh battled for a third day to stamp out a massive fire that killed 41 people at a container depot in an incident that spotlights the South Asian nation's poor safety record.
India's government sought to calm anger at home and abroad after two officials of the ruling BJP party made remarks about the Prophet Mohammed, with 38 people arrested for rioting in a northern city and a protest planned later in Mumbai.
U.S.
The U.S. Congress's probe of the deadly assault on the Capitol by Donald Trump supporters trying to overturn his election defeat enters a new phase this week with hearings meant to refocus attention on the violence and those who planned it. Here's what you need to know about the investigation.
Republican Representative Liz Cheney warned that the nation's democratic system is threatened by ongoing efforts to deny the legitimacy of Trump's 2020 election loss. "People must pay attention. People must watch, and they must understand how easily our democratic system can unravel if we don't defend it," Cheney said.
Shootings in three American cities killed nine people and wounded two dozen more, the latest outbreaks of gun violence in the wake of three mass shootings that have rattled the United States.
Bipartisan Senate negotiations on how or if to respond to the latest wave of mass shootings are focused on a range of options, including improving school safety and "red flag" laws to allow police to seize guns from people deemed dangerous.
Power demand in Texas is set to break the all-time record this week, far ahead of the hottest days of summer, testing of the resilience of the state's power grid after issues earlier this year and last year's days-long blackout during a deep freeze. | BUSINESS Oil prices hit $120 a barrel after Saudi Arabia raised crude prices for July and amid doubts that an increased OPEC+ monthly output target will help ease tight supply.
Italian oil company Eni and Spain's Repsol could begin shipping Venezuelan oil to Europe as soon as next month to make up for Russian crude, people familiar with the matter said, resuming oil-for-debt swaps halted two years ago when Washington stepped up sanctions on Venezuela.
President Joe Biden will declare a 24-month tariff exemption for solar panels from four Southeast Asian nations after an investigation froze imports and stalled projects in the United States. The move comes amid concern about the impact of the Commerce Department's months-long investigation into whether imports of solar panels from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are circumventing tariffs on goods made in China.
China's Ant Group, a financial technology giant controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, said it has launched a digital wholesale bank incorporated in Singapore, dubbed ANEXT Bank. The move marks one of Ant's biggest overseas pushes since its $37 billion IPO was derailed by Chinese regulators in late 2020.
Taser-maker Axon Enterprise said it was halting work on a project to equip drones with stun guns to combat mass shootings, a prospect that a member of its AI ethics board told Reuters was prompting an exodus from the panel.
A fifth-generation cattle rancher and consultant plans to build the country's largest beef plant in South Dakota with capacity to slaughter 8,000 head of cattle a day. The $1.1 billion project could help address the Biden administration's concerns about rising food prices and a lack of competition in the meat sector. | | | | | | | | | | | Video of the day  Thailand holds first official Pride parade Thousands of members of Thailand's LGBTQ+ community raised rainbow flags in Bangkok in a parade that was supported by the local government for the first time. | | | | And finally… AI trained to hear coral's sounds of life  A healthy reef has a complex "crackling, campfire-like" sound because of all the creatures living on and in it, while a degraded reef sounds more desolate. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
