Weekend Briefing

From Reuters Daily Briefing

By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor

Hello once again. We have the latest news from around the world as well as our World News podcast on swing states and key voting groups in the 2024 US presidential race. And next week, I'm going to republish the chocolate-chip cookie recipe that I promised but have not delivered. Tell your friends and family to sign up for the briefing (and heat their ovens).

Aid is air-dropped over Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

US military to airdrop food and supplies into Gaza

Temporary relief: President Biden's announcement comes as the UN says that more than half a million people in the strip are one step away from famine. Israel acknowledged the plan, but said little else. People in Gaza are eating animal feed and cactuses to survive, and medics say children are dying in hospitals from malnutrition and dehydration. Experts say the measure is well intentioned but unwise, and won't solve the problem.
Disaster: Some Palestinians injured in an attack during aid delivery in Gaza said Israeli forces shot at them as they rushed to get food for their families. Israel disputed figures from health authorities that said 115 people were killed, and said the deaths occurred when people were trampled or run over. Pressure mounted on Israel as other countries backed a UN call for an inquiry.

'There are more than 10,000 people here, and no one is afraid'

A funeral in Moscow: Thousands of Russians chanted Alexei Navalny's name outside his memorial service. Some brought flowers and others said, "We won't forgive" and "Putin is a murderer." Police for the most part did not intervene. The parents of the Kremlin's fiercest critic kissed his body in its coffin before he was buried at a cemetery near where he once lived.
Ukraine and Congress: House Republicans predict that Speaker Mike Johnson will take up the stalled bill that would supply crucial funding to Ukraine for its defense against Russia's invasion. Vladimir Putin said Western countries risk nuclear war if they send troops to fight in Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron offered that idea earlier in the week.

Donald Trump and the gift of delay

The immunity question: The Supreme Court's leisurely progress on considering whether Trump is immune from prosecution for trying to undo his 2020 election loss plays in his favor, John Kruzel writes. In other Trump legal news, the former president lost his bid to pause a $454.2 million judgment in a New York civil-fraud case, appealed his disqualification from the Illinois ballot in the 2024 race, said the prosecutor in his election-interference case should be dumped, and sought a delay in his trial over mishandling classified documents.
Super Tuesday: Fifteen states and one US territory will hold their parties' nominating contests on March 5. This could be Nikki Haley's last chance to stop Trump's drive for the Republican nomination. The two collide in North Carolina this weekend as Michigan Republicans choose their nominee. Biden is expected to score wins, even as some Democrats remain angry over his support for Israel. Just look to their 100,000 "uncommitted" votes in Michigan as an example.

France seeks Olympic gold in advance PR marathon

Paris is NOT burning: Summer Olympics games organizers insist the athletes' village needs no air conditioning (Have they ever met an American? We don't do "no air conditioning."), Emmanuel Macron became the latest official to promise to swim in the Seine to prove its safety, and the country's European-affairs minister blamed a social-media panic over Paris' bedbug scare on the Russians.
Fake cyclist: The Union Cycliste Internationale sanctioned an American women's cycling team after they fell short of a fifth member to participate in a race in Belgium, and the coach told the team mechanic to dress up in rider's clothes and pass herself off as a participant.

Before I forget…

Elon Musk sued ChatGPT maker OpenAI and its CEO, saying they abandoned the startup's mission to develop AI to benefit humanity, and went for profit instead.

CVS and Walgreens will start selling the abortion pill mifepristone at stores in several states this month.

The US ambassador to Singapore was a mean boss, frequently unprepared on issues, had poor relations with some Singaporean ministries and failed to submit $48,000 in travel expenses on time or with proper documentation, a State Department report said. Jonathan Kaplan also failed to follow procedures in hiring consultants for a $5,650 "furniture research project" and $4,250 to redesign the embassy's cafeteria, the report said.

The Indian state of Maharashtra will inspect outlets of global fast-food chains to see if they're wrongly promoting "real cheese" as an ingredient. Wendy's rode back its CEO's comment that it might try surge pricing.

There's a legal battle on in Cyprus over whether Halloumi cheese should be made from cow's milk (bulk of exports, mellower taste) or from goat and ewe milk (as the purists say). I'd be happy to bring my lactose pills over there to conduct the taste tests.

From our fact-check department, please remain seated: Disney World is not adding urinals to all women's bathrooms.

Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content.

Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters.com

Weekend Briefing is sent once a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here .

Want to stop receiving this newsletter? Unsubscribe here .

To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here.