| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Tuesday, October 19, 2021 by Farouq Suleiman | Hello Here's what you need to know. World leaders pay tribute to Colin Powell, WHO-led program aims to buy antiviral COVID-19 pills for $10 and a look at the skies over the South China Sea. | | | | | Today's biggest stories  Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell speaks by video feed during the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention as participants from across the country are hosted over video links from the originally planned site of the convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. August 18, 2020.REUTERS U.S. "From his front-seat view of history, advising presidents and shaping our nation's policies," President Joe Biden said as former presidents and world leaders remembered Colin Powell, the first Black U.S. secretary of state and top military officer, who died on Monday at the age of 84 due to complications from COVID-19. He was fully vaccinated. Powell was one of America's foremost Black figures for decades and was named to senior posts by three Republican presidents.
The Biden administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block a Texas law that imposes a near-total ban on abortion, calling the Republican-backed measure plainly unconstitutional and specifically designed to evade judicial scrutiny.
Former President Donald Trump sued the U.S. congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, claiming members made an illegal request for his White House records.
Negotiators of a bill to invest up to $3.5 trillion to expand social programs and tackle climate change gave hints of progress, but some Democrats were resigned to the increasing likelihood that a proposal to reduce carbon emissions will be weakened or scrapped.
Confederate flag racist? Defense counsel in the trial of three white men accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia asked potential jurors whether they considered the flag a racist symbol. |  Outside a World Health Organization building during an executive board meeting on update on the coronavirus outbreak, in Geneva, Switzerland, February 6, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse WORLD A WHO-led program to ensure poorer countries get fair access to COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments aims to secure antiviral drugs for patients with mild symptoms for as little as $10 per course, a draft document seen by Reuters says. Merck's experimental pill molnupiravir is likely to be one of the drugs, and other drugs to treat mild patients are being developed.
Since October 1, Chinese military aircraft have flown 159 times through Taiwan’s air defense identification zone – a section of international airspace countries can arbitrarily define as theirs to monitor. Reuters analyzes what weeks of mass air force incursions into Taiwan's ADIZ say about China’s airpower.
A group of 10 naval vessels from China and Russia sailed through a strait separating Japan's main island and its northern island of Hokkaido, the Japanese government said, adding that it is closely watching such activities.
North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile off its east coast, South Korea's military said, pulling Japan's new prime minister off the campaign trail and overshadowing the opening of a major arms fair in Seoul.
Afghanistan's economy is set to contract up to 30% this year and this is likely to further fuel a refugee crisis that will impact neighboring countries, Turkey and Europe, the International Monetary Fund said. |  China-made Tesla Model 3 vehicles are seen at the Shanghai Gigafactory of the U.S. electric car maker in Shanghai, China December 30, 2019. REUTERS/Yilei Sun BUSINESS Investors will be closely watching Tesla's quarterly results for indications of its performance in China, where the electric carmaker has posted robust sales in the face of negative publicity and a host of new domestic competitors.
Russia said it would this month seek to fine Google a percentage of its annual Russian turnover for repeatedly failing to delete content deemed illegal, Moscow's strongest effort yet to rein in foreign tech firms.
Britain's competition regulator plans to launch an investigation into music streaming to see whether a sector dominated by platforms such as Spotify and Apple works for consumers.
China's economic setbacks have darkened the outlook for countries in its orbit, from South Korea to Thailand, as a sharp factory slowdown and trade bottlenecks in the world's second-largest economy hit Asia on the supply as well as demand sides.
China's long-mooted - and long-resisted - property tax is set to gain new momentum as President Xi Jinping throws his support behind what would be the most profound policy change in a generation. | | |  | | ROAD TO COP26 Making companies do better: Anne Simpson is one of the key figures in U.S. climate finance. It’s her job to give companies a hard time if they shirk on decarbonization. Ahead of the critical COP26 conference, she spoke to George Hay. Listen here. | | | | | | | Quote of the day "The Olympic Torch is supposed to represent peace and hope, but for our people who are living under the brutal Chinese Communist Party this represents global complicity in China's extreme repression." Zumretay Arkin Program and Advocacy Manager of the World Uyghur Congress Activists urge Beijing Olympics boycott over human rights concerns | | | | Video of the day  Trump questioned under oath in lawsuit over alleged Trump Tower assault Former President Donald Trump testified under oath on Monday as part of a civil lawsuit brought by protesters who allege they were assaulted by his security guards in New York in 2015, a lawyer for the protesters told a news conference. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
