Daily Briefing

Israel prepares to mount a ground invasion of Rafah, Russian investigators have not yet established the cause of Navalny's death and what's at stake for Trump and Haley in South Carolina.

Plus, when the double brood of cicadas will come out - and what to expect.

By Kate Turton

Today's Top News

Palestinians inspect a house hit by an Israeli strike in Rafah. February 16, 2024. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Israel expects to continue full-scale military operations in Gaza for another six to eight weeks as it prepares to mount a ground invasion of Rafah, four officials familiar with the strategy said. Military chiefs believe they can significantly damage Hamas' remaining capabilities in that time.
Pakistan's two major parties are set to meet to try and bridge differences over forming a minority coalition government after an inconclusive election, a top party official said, underscoring its political and economic instability.
Russian forces claimed full control of the vast Soviet-era coke plant in the ruined Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, cementing the biggest battlefield gain in nine months after one of the most intense battles of the war.
Even as they insist they are not dancing to Donald Trump's tune on NATO, European leaders are singing from a song sheet designed to appeal to the former US president and his Republican supporters.
Donald Trump wants to make South Carolina the end of the road for Nikki Haley in their battle for the Republican nomination. Haley aims to survive and take their fight into the multistate Super Tuesday contest in March. For more election news, sign up to On the Campaign Trail.

ALEXEI NAVALNY

Russian investigators have not yet established the cause of Alexei Navalny's death, and it is unclear how long it will take for official conclusions to be made. Here's everything we know about his death so far.
More than 400 people have been detained at events across 32 Russian cities since his death according to rights group OVD-Info, as Russians continued to gather and lay flowers.

Business & Markets

Germany is likely in recession now as external demand is weak, consumers remain cautious and domestic investment is held back by high borrowing costs, the Bundesbank said in a monthly report about Europe's biggest economy.
The European Commission has opened formal proceedings against ByteDance's TikTok under the Digital Services Act, according to a document seen by Reuters, to see if the social media platform is doing enough to protect children.
China's JD.com said it is evaluating a takeover of Britain's Currys , sending shares in the electricals retailer soaring, and laying the ground for a bidding war after the group rejected a rival $883 million deal.
JetBlue Airways said it had agreed with activist investor Carl Icahn to appoint two people from his firm to the airline's board, days after he took a stake of about 10% in the airline.
Goldman Sachs raised its year-end target for the benchmark S&P 500 to 5,200, reflecting roughly a 4% upside from current levels, citing an improved earnings outlook for the index companies.
China is widely expected to trim its benchmark mortgage reference rate at a monthly fixing, as banks' improving net interest margins give authorities some leeway to use monetary stimulus to shore up faltering economy growth.

Surging cocaine violence has Uruguay clamoring for help

A cyclist drives along the shoreline in Montevideo. February 9, 2024. REUTERS/Ana Ferreira

Uruguay's main port received two cargo scanners sixteen years ago to detect drugs and other suspicious loads. Unfortunately, during delivery one of them fell into the sea.

Since then, cocaine shipments to Europe have surged through the port of Montevideo, which handled a record 1.1 million containers last year, fueling a rise in gang violence and undermining Uruguay's reputation as a beacon of stability in turbulent South America.

Journalists Lucinda Elliott and Gabriel Stargardter spoke to the Reuters World News podcast about their journey to trace a surge in cocaine shipments from Uruguay.

Uruguay is desperate for help.

And Finally...

Cicadas spend much of their life cycle - years on end - underground as nymphs. REUTERS/Will Dunham/File Photo

Parts of the United States are about to experience a rare natural phenomenon with the simultaneous emergence of two enormous adjacent broods of periodical cicadas.

More than a trillion of these noisy bugs are set to pop out of the ground starting around April.

The two broods - one concentrated in US Midwestern states and the other in the South and Midwest, with a small area of overlap in Illinois - emerge together only once every 221 years.

Read more here.

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