Inflation, elections and war dominated 2024

Plus, a selection of the year's best photos.

Sign up for Reuters newsletters  Daily Briefing Daily Briefing By Judith Langowski, Edson Caldas and Kate Turton Welcome to the year-end special edition of the Daily Briefing! Below – after today's top news – you'll find a review of this year by Reuters Executive Editor Simon Robinson, examining how inflation influenced elections around the globe. We also have a selection of articles recapping the past year and looking ahead at 2025, and we invite you to see 2024's news events through the eyes of Reuters photographers. Thanks for spending this year with us. We hope you felt thoroughly informed about the world's political and economic developments with the help of our journalists around the world. Reuters Daily Briefing will be back on January 2. If you have any questions, comments or feedback for the newsletter, write to dailybriefing@thomsonreuters.com. Today's Top News   A South Korean court gave authorities approval to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol in a criminal investigation into his martial law decree, marking the first time that a sitting president of the country has faced arrest. Chinese state-sponsored hackers breached the US Treasury Department's computer security guardrails this month and stole documents in what Treasury called a "major incident." China says it has always opposed all forms of hacker attacks. Greater China Bureau Chief Kevin Krolicki is on the Reuters World News podcast to discuss the hack. Alleged abuses and psychological harm to Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons and camps are in renewed focus amid stepped-up efforts in December by international mediators to secure a ceasefire. Meanwhile, as many aid workers and doctors say famine has taken hold in Gaza, the world's hunger monitor has struggled to access key data to determine whether conditions constitute a famine.  A state funeral for Jimmy Carter, the former US president who died at the age of 100, will be held at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 9.  Inflation, elections and war dominated 2024 By Simon Robinson   Inflation dropped in most economies around the world in 2024, but voters didn't care. Angered by the hefty ramp-up in prices for everything from eggs to energy over the past few years, they punished incumbent parties at almost every opportunity. The pain of inflation lingers, and ruling parties took the blame in election after election. In the United States, higher costs helped Trump win a second term as president four years after he was voted out of the White House and then falsely claimed election fraud. The inflation-driven anti-incumbent sentiment also ushered in new governments in Britain and Botswana, Portugal and Panama. South Korean voters put the opposition into power in its parliament, a check on President Yoon Suk Yeol. In early December, the president imposed martial law, a move the National Assembly quickly reversed. Elections also shook up France and Germany, and Japan and India. Read the full article here Reviewing 2024 and looking ahead to 2025   The Olympic cauldron and the Arc de Triomphe after sunset during the Paris Olympics, July 29, 2024. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann Democracy looks bruised but not beaten as it heads into 2025. In a year in which countries representing almost half the world's population called voters to the polls, democracies endured violence and major scares, but also proved resilient.  In 2024, the world's central banks were finally able to start lowering interest rates after largely winning the battle against inflation without sparking a global recession. Stocks hit record highs in the US and Europe, and Forbes declared a "banner year for the mega-wealthy" as 141 new billionaires joined its list of the super-rich. Here is what this means for 2025. US investors are preparing for a swathe of changes in 2025, from tariffs and deregulation to tax policy, that will ripple through markets as Donald Trump returns to the White House. Strategists expect these are the implications for stocks, bonds and currencies.  Major European energy companies doubled down on oil and gas in 2024 to focus on near-term profits, slowing down – and at times reversing – climate commitments in a shift that they are likely to stick with in 2025. 2025 will be a year of reckoning for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his country's arch foe Iran, writes Global Foreign Policy Editor Samia Nakhoul. Netanyahu is set to cement his strategic goals: tightening his military control over Gaza, thwarting Iran's nuclear ambitions and capitalizing on the dismantling of Tehran's allies. Read the analysis here. The Paris Olympics reinvigorated the Games after the pandemic, a desperately needed success for the IOC, which prepares for a new president in 2025. Meanwhile, women's sports made major gains in TV viewing and attendance, Scottie Scheffler took the golf world by storm, and India ended its cricket drought.  The year ahead for markets What will 2025 have in store for markets? A new US president, a trade war and political upheaval in Europe's powerhouses are keeping investors on guard. ING's Carsten Brzeski tells Reuters why inflation will remain one of the key risks in the year ahead. Watch the video here.   The stories behind 2024's pictures   Wedding dresses for sale are displayed on mannequins outside a damaged shop in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem This year, Reuters photographers covered the attempted assassination of Trump, a devastating hurricane in North Carolina and floods in Brazil. They are documenting the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, the dangers people face trying to migrate to the United States from Mexico, and captured this year's exceptional moments, like the appearance of Comet C/2023 A3 and the Paris Olympics. Now, Reuters photographers tell the stories behind their pictures. Read the article here In memoriam Quincy Jones, who worked with musicians ranging from Count Basie to Frank Sinatra and reshaped pop music with his collaborations with Michael Jackson. REUTERS/Adrees Latif Here's a selection of photos of global figures from the worlds of showbusiness, politics, sports and art who died in 2024. New Reuters newsletters We launched several new newsletters this year and encourage you to sign up to them and keep following our global newsroom's coverage in 2025. Reuters Politics US started as a weekly newsletter covering the presidential election and continues with insights on the transition to the Trump presidency, inauguration and beyond. Reuters Econ World is a newsletter that complements the eponymous podcast. Each week, host Carmel Crimmins picks apart key concepts and ideas driving the biggest economic news around the world. In Reuters India File, author Ira Dugal brings you weekly news from the Indian subcontinent, with a focus on markets and finance. And in Reuters Week Ahead, Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni lets Reuters subscribers know each Monday what she and her colleagues are watching for in the upcoming week as well as the questions they are trying to answer. You can sign up for it with a Reuters subscription. Thanks for reading us and a happy New Year! Additional editorial support by Anisha De. Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters.com Reuters Daily Briefing is sent 5 days 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 email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement © 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036

US government shutdown looms

House Speaker Mike Johnson's future hangs in the balance.

Sign up for Reuters newsletters  Daily Briefing Daily Briefing By Edson Caldas The US House of Representatives rejected a Trump-backed bill that would have extended government funding. The clock is now ticking for a disruptive shutdown. Today, we also look at Ukraine's vast war data trove to train AI models and Europe's dream of developing its own EV batteries. Plus, each country that Reuters covered in 2024, captured in just one image. The Daily Briefing is taking a break for the holidays. We are back on Jan. 2 – but keep an eye out for a special edition on Dec. 31. Today's Top News   Government could partly shut down on Saturday without action. REUTERS/Loren Elliott United States A spending bill backed by Donald Trump failed in the House of Representatives as dozens of Republicans defied the president-elect, leaving Congress with no clear plan to avert a fast-approaching government shutdown. Here is a guide to what would stay open and what would shut down. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson's future hangs in the balance as he scrambles for a funding deal. On today's Reuters World News podcast, Correspondent Bo Erickson explains how this vote lays bare fault lines in the Republican party.  Middle East Top diplomats from the Biden administration are in Damascus to meet new Syrian authorities led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a State Department spokesperson said. It is the first in-person and official meeting between Washington and Syria's de-facto new rulers. Nine Palestinian Americans sued the US government, alleging that it had failed to rescue them or members of their families who were trapped in Gaza where Israel's war has killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to cement his goals. In other news As the future of warfare pivots towards AI, we have a piece looking at how Ukraine is sitting on a valuable resource: millions of hours of footage from drones which can be used to train AI models to make decisions on the battlefield. Follow the latest on the war here. Indian militant groups that took refuge in Myanmar and fought in its civil war have been streaming back across the border to Manipur state this year, security officers said, inflaming the bitter 19-month ethnic conflict there with weapons and battle-hardened cadres. Residents of a Mayotte neighborhood damaged by Cyclone Chido heckled French President Emmanuel Macron when he toured it today, complaining that food and water had not reached them nearly a week after the storm hit the archipelago. Business & Markets   Northvolt's financial collapse has not entirely crushed Europe's dream of developing its own electric vehicle batteries but fulfilling it is likely to require Chinese cash and expertise, according to interviews with a dozen executives, investors and analysts. As the threat of US tariffs forces countries to diversify their options for exports, Brazil expects the South American trade bloc Mercosur to speed up more free trade negotiations after clinching a deal with the European Union, diplomats say. Swiss lawmakers called for stricter oversight of the financial sector after investigating the collapse of Credit Suisse, casting an unflattering light on authorities while pinning the blame on the bank's implosion primarily on its managers. A workers' union representing over 10,000 baristas at Starbucks said its members will strike at stores in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle for five days starting today, citing unresolved issues over wages, staffing and schedules. As Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly expand sales of their popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs, cheaper copies of their patented remedies are winning approval from some regulators overseas, posing a threat to the pharma giants' prices and market share. The Week Ahead   The US government will enter its first partial shutdown in six years if lawmakers in Congress fail to reach a deal to extend funding. The UN human rights office will send a small team of human rights officers to Syria for the first time in years. Turkey's central bank is expected to start a cycle of rate cuts after eight months of steady policy, according to a Reuters poll. The Parker Solar Probe, a spacecraft launched in 2018 to journey closer to the sun than any other human-made object, makes its closest dive through the sun's upper atmosphere. One country, one picture, one year   Smoke from a fire rising into the air as trees burn amongst vegetation in the Pantanal, the world's largest wetland, in Brazil. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino Reuters sent out some 1.6 million pictures to the world in 2024, covering news and daily life, tragedies and comedies, chaos and customs. Here is each country that we covered this year, captured in just one image. See our photo gallery And Finally... Gisele Pelicot, the victim of a mass rape orchestrated by her then-husband, after the verdict in the trial at the courthouse in Avignon, France. REUTERS/Manon Cruz From a trial which shook France to the SantaCon celebration in New York, we bring you some of our top photography this week. See our photo gallery Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters.com Reuters Daily Briefing is sent 5 days 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 email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement © 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036