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Daily Briefing

Wildfires force thousands of Canadians from their homes, Zelenskiy visits a flood-hit area after the Kakhovka dam collapse, and the euro zone slips into a technical recession.

Plus, scientists document the first-known instance of a "virgin birth" by a crocodile.

By Edson Caldas

Today's Top News

People wear protective masks as the Roosevelt Island Tram crosses the East River, June 7, 2023. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

VEIL OF SMOKE

Forest fires continue to burn across Canada as the country endured its worst-ever start to wildfire season, forcing thousands of people from their homes and sending a smoky haze billowing across US cities. About 3.8 million hectares have already burned, roughly 15 times the 10-year average.
Across the border, schools in the US East Coast canceled outdoor activities, airline traffic slowed and millions of Americans were urged to stay indoors as smoke from the Canadian wildfires drifted south. Here is what you need to know about the risks of the lingering smoke.
Are these fires normal for Canada? The Reuters World News podcast speaks to Senior Reporter Nia Williams in British Columbia.

KAKHOVKA DAM BREACH

About 600 square kilometers, or 230 square miles, of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine was under water today following the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, the regional governor said. He said almost 2,000 people had left flooded territory as of this morning.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited the flooded region of Kherson to discuss emergency operations. "It is important to calculate the damage and allocate funds to compensate residents affected by the disaster," Zelenskiy said. Moscow and Kyiv blame each other for the collapse of the dam.

AROUND THE WORLD

Four children around three years old and an adult have been injured in a knife attack in a park in Annecy, a town in the French Alps, police said. French Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said on Twitter that attacker had been arrested.
The HIV/AIDS treatment center in Kampala is almost empty, days after Uganda enacted one of the most draconian anti-gay laws on Earth. The usual daily influx of patients has all but dried up. Antiretroviral drugs pile up unused. "The LGBT community in Uganda is on lockdown now," a resident medical officer said.
Taiwan activated its defense systems after reporting 37 Chinese military aircraft flying into the island's air defense zone, some of which then flew into the western Pacific, in Beijing's latest mass air incursion.

Business & Markets

India's central bank kept its key lending rate steady, but signaled that monetary conditions will remain tight for some time as it looks to further curb inflationary pressures. Here are expert views on the policy decision. Meanwhile, two major central banks - the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Bank of Canada - surprised markets this week by resuming rate hikes.
The euro zone economy was in technical recession in the first three months of 2023, data from European statistics agency Eurostat showed, after downward revisions of growth in both the first quarter and the final quarter of 2022. The euro zone GDP fell by 0.1% in the first quarter compared with the fourth of 2022 and was 1.0% up from a year earlier.
Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Twitter could face regulatory action after European consumer group BEUC complained to the European Commission and consumer authorities that the online platforms allegedly facilitate the misleading promotion of crypto assets.
In more Big Tech news, Meta introduced WhatsApp Channels, a feature that the company said would help make the app a "private broadcast messaging product." Users in Colombia and Singapore will be the first to receive access to the tool.

Counting central Ukraine's military losses, with a spreadsheet

Tetiana Vatsenko-Bondareva visits the grave of her husband Denys Bondarev, 38, at a cemetery in Poltava, May 25, 2023. REUTERS/Dan Peleschuk

In peacetime, Viktor Tkachenko tracks local tenders, court registries and other open sources for a news outlet in central Ukraine. These days, he fills a spreadsheet with the names of Ukrainian soldiers from Poltava region killed since Russia's full-scale invasion began – 1,072 at last count – which is used in regular round-ups that typically contain between 10 and 40 names. "It's a frightening system, but it's a system."

The spreadsheet offers a glimpse into the human cost of the war in one of Ukraine's 27 regions

And Finally...

A large crocodile is seen on the bank of the Tarcoles River, in Costa Rica, July 16, 2019. REUTERS/Juan Carlos Ulate/File Photo

Scientists have documented the first-known instance of a "virgin birth" by a crocodile, which had been living in isolation for 16 years at Costa Rican zoo. The female American crocodile laid 14 eggs in 2018 within her enclosure, a not uncommon phenomenon among captive reptiles. The more puzzling fact came after three months of incubation when one egg was found to contain a fully formed stillborn baby crocodile.

Read more here: Scientists find crocodile 'virgin birth' at Costa Rica zoo

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