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Daily Briefing

The killing of three US troops piles political pressure on Biden, the Pope says Africans are a 'special case' when it comes to LGBT blessings, and China Evergrande is ordered to liquidate in a landmark moment.

Plus, social media platform X has blocked users from searching for Taylor Swift.

By Kate Turton

Today's Top News

Satellite view of the US military outpost known as Tower 22, in Rukban, Jordan October 12, 2023. Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS

MIDDLE EAST

The killing of three US troops and wounding of dozens more by Iran-backed militants is piling political pressure on President Joe Biden to deal a blow directly against Iran, a move he's been reluctant to make out of fear of igniting a broader war.
The first deadly strike against US forces since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October is a major escalation in the Middle East. Correspondent Phil Stewart has the latest on the Reuters World News daily podcast.
Hamas said that releasing hostages it is holding would require a guaranteed end to the Israeli offensive in Gaza and withdrawal of all invasion forces, reiterating its position after Israel held a meeting with Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

IN OTHER NEWS

More than 50 people, including women and children, were killed in attacks along South Sudan's border with Sudan, a local official said, in the deadliest incident in a spate of attacks since 2021 related to a boundary dispute.
Pope Francis said that Africans were a "special case" in the opposition to homosexuality. But he said he was confident that, except for Africans, critics of his decision to allow blessings for same-sex couples would eventually understand it.
Ukraine's SBU security service said it had uncovered a corruption scheme in the purchase of arms by the country's military totaling the equivalent of about $40 million.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. struck back at his firebrand predecessor Rodrigo Duterte who called him a "drug addict", saying the former leader's fentanyl use could have affected his judgment.
Three foreign-born residents of Japan filed a lawsuit against the national and local governments over alleged illegal questioning by police based on racial profiling.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley accused party leaders of not being honest brokers in her campaign against Donald Trump and said she did not have to win the nominating contest in South Carolina to stay in the race.

Business & Markets

Microsoft's early lead in artificial intelligence has the software heavyweight's stock market value poised to pull decisively ahead of Apple's over the next five years, 13 institutional investors unanimously agreed ahead of the tech titans' quarterly results this week.
The financiers behind the world's airline industry are gathering for the first time since a mid-air cabin blowout tipped Boeing into a new safety crisis, amid signs of wider disruption to the $150 billion jet industry.
Toyota Motors said it would suspend shipments of some models including the Hilux truck and Land Cruiser 300 SUV after finding irregularities in certification tests for diesel engines developed by affiliate Toyota Industries.
Shares in Bayer dropped as much as 5.7% after the embattled German company was ordered to pay $2.25 billion in damages, the highest amount yet in its ongoing litigation linked to an alleged carcinogenic effect of its Roundup weedkiller.
Shell's exit from Nigeria's onshore oil sector highlights risks oil majors face in Africa's biggest exporter but has raised hopes that local firms could reverse the output decline from the Niger Delta, industry officials and analysts said.
The US Department of Defense plans to develop a program to estimate prices and predict supplies of nickel, cobalt and other critical minerals, a move that throws a new, uncertain variable into global metals markets.

China Evergrande ordered to liquidate in landmark moment for crisis-hit sector

A Hong Kong court ordered the liquidation of property giant China Evergrande Group, a move likely to send ripples through China's crumbling financial markets as policymakers scramble to contain a deepening crisis.

The court's order to liquidate Evergrande sets the stage for what is expected to be a drawn-out process for creditors trying to seize its assets. Clare Jim explains on the Reuters World News daily podcast – listen now.

And Finally...

Singer Taylor Swift poses for a selfie with fans. REUTERS/Mark Blinch/File Photo

The social media platform X has blocked users from searching for Taylor Swift after fake sexually explicit images of the pop singer proliferated on social media, an executive said.

Searches for Swift's name on Sunday afternoon on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter yielded the error message, "Something went wrong. Try reloading."

Taylor Swift searches blocked on X after fake explicit images spread

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