| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Thursday, December 2, 2021 by Linda Noakes | Hello Here's what you need to know. Omicron appears to get around some but not all immunity, U.S. Supreme Court conservatives appear willing to gut abortion rights, and Duchess Meghan scores a UK court victory | | | | | Today's biggest stories  Activists outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, December 1, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
U.S.
Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices signaled a willingness to dramatically curtail abortion rights in America and perhaps overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized the procedure nationwide as they indicated they would uphold a restrictive Republican-backed Mississippi law.
Leading Democrats and Republicans in the Senate scrambled to head off the threat of a partial federal government shutdown posed by Republicans opposed to President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Desperate to overturn his election loss, former President Donald Trump's team spun a sprawling voter-fraud fiction, casting two Georgia election workers as the main villains. Read our special report on the conspiracy theory hatched by Trump's campaign.
Voting rights activist Stacey Abrams said she is running again for governor of Georgia, setting up a potential rematch against Republican Governor Brian Kemp in a state that has become a key battleground. Speaking in an interview at the Reuters Next conference, Abrams was bullish that Congress will pass two key bills to protect voting rights.
Ghislaine Maxwell's sex abuse trial is set to enter its fourth day, following emotional testimony from a woman who accused the British socialite of setting her up for abuse by now-deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein when she was 14.
WORLD
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met his Russian opposite number to warn him face-to-face of the "serious consequences" Russia would suffer if it invaded Ukraine and to urge him to seek a diplomatic exit from the crisis. Blinken delivered the warning to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a meeting in Stockholm.
Israel urged world powers to halt nuclear talks with Iran immediately, citing a U.N. watchdog's announcement that Tehran has started producing enriched uranium with more advanced centrifuges.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the early frontrunner for the Philippines presidency, was hit by another formal complaint, as longtime opponents of his powerful family pile pressure on authorities to disqualify him from elections next year.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, one of the world's longest serving leaders after 36 years in power, offered support for his eldest son as his potential successor and defended the idea of establishing a political dynasty.
Meghan, Britain's Duchess of Sussex, hailed victory over a tabloid newspaper after a British court dismissed its appeal against a ruling it had breached her privacy by printing parts of a letter she wrote to her estranged father.
| BUSINESS Global stocks will shake off recent weakness and rise over the next 12 months but at a more tempered pace than this year's rally, found a Reuters poll of equity analysts who also said a correction was likely in the next six months.
The U.S. central bank needs to be ready to respond to the possibility that inflation may not recede in the second half of next year as most forecasters currently expect, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said.
Grab, Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing and delivery firm, makes its market debut today after a record $40 billion merger with a special purpose acquisition company, in a listing that will set the tone for other regional offerings.
Large tie-ups between publicly listed companies will be off the table in 2022, as a crackdown by the Biden administration makes securing regulatory sign-off for combinations increasingly difficult, senior dealmakers told the Reuters Next conference.
You can save your prized Aston Martin DB6, Porsche 911 or Mustang from the museum of combustion engine history. Or your Fiat 500 and Renault Clio, for that matter. That's the message from a growing cohort of European and American startups seeking to carve out roles in the auto transition by converting the roaring dinosaurs of the fossil-fuel age into clean electric vehicles.
| | | | | | | | | Video of the day  Drone shows volcanic ash devouring Spanish towns The volcano that has been erupting for months on the Spanish island of La Palma has damaged or destroyed over 2,700 buildings, with no end in sight. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
