White House asks for mass firing plans

And Chinese drone specialists worked with sanctioned Russians.

Get full access to Reuters.com for just $1/week. Subscribe now. Daily Briefing Daily Briefing By Kate Turton Hello. Today we have an exclusive on Chinese drone experts who worked with a sanctioned Russian arms maker and a story about life in Denmark's 'Novo Town'. Elsewhere, the White House asks for mass firing plans ahead of a possible government shutdown. Plus, meet the private detectives tailing French workers to root out sick leave fraud. Today's Top News   A Russian drone is seen during a Russian drone strike, Kyiv, Ukraine October 17, 2022. REUTERS/Roman Petushkov/File Photo Chinese drone experts have flown to Russia to conduct technical development work on military drones at a state-owned weapons manufacturer that is under Western sanctions. Read our exclusive. China led several countries in announcing new climate plans and offered a veiled rebuke of the US president's anti-climate rhetoric a day earlier at the U.N. General Assembly. The White House asked federal agencies to prepare plans for mass firings during a possible government shutdown next week. It's a significant shift from what usually happens during shutdowns - as Reporter Courtney Rozen explains on the Reuters World News podcast. A gunman, who wrote "ANTI-ICE" on an unused bullet, fired on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Dallas from a nearby rooftop, killing a detainee and badly wounding two others before taking his own life, officials said. Doctors are already facing worried women asking whether taking Tylenol during pregnancy can cause autism in their children just days after the US president told them not to take it. Doctors say Acetaminophen remains the only safe pain reliever for pregnant women. Denmark said that drone incursions that briefly shut two of its airports and affected military installations overnight were hybrid attacks intended to spread fear, but said it did not know who was behind them. Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was found not guilty of receiving illegal campaign financing from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi for his successful 2007 presidential bid, but was pronounced guilty of criminal conspiracy in the same case. Israeli forces advanced deeper into Gaza City as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu headed to New York to address the United Nations General Assembly, with US President Donald Trump pursuing a deal to end the Gaza war. Meanwhile, Italy sends a second navy ship to escort a Gaza aid flotilla. Business & Markets   Patrice Le Bec, a private detective who handles a growing number of fraudulent sick leave cases, Paris, September 19, 2025. REUTERS/Gabriel Stargardter Private detectives in France are increasingly tracking white-collar employees who form part of a growing cohort of French people suspected of abusing their sick leave. Experts say fraudulent absenteeism has been rising in the country. Several investors in Walt Disney asked the media giant to share documents about its decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel's show last week for inspection. As ChatGPT nears its third birthday, at least one in 10 retail investors is using a chatbot to pick stocks, fuelling a boom in the robo-advisory market, but even fans say it is a high-risk strategy that cannot replace traditional advisors just yet. Sign up for the Reuters Artificial Intelligencer newsletter. The US Federal Aviation Administration has just two candidates vying to become the project manager of a multi-billion dollar effort to overhaul air traffic control in the US, the agency's top official told Reuters. The risk of a partial US government shutdown beginning next week is rising as congressional Democrats and Republicans hit an impasse over how to continue to fund the federal government. Here's how a shutdown could affect financial markets. For more on the markets, watch our daily rundown. Denmark's 'Novo Town' holds its breath as Wegovy fever fades   A car drives by Vor Frue Kirke in Kalundborg, Denmark, September 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Withers In Denmark's seaside town of Kalundborg, also known as "Novo Town", therapist Heidi Thron Rune has learnt to live with the noise of building work as new facilities take shape to meet demand for Novo Nordisk's Wegovy weight-loss drug. What is less familiar is the worry that has taken hold as the pharmaceutical company that has become central to the Danish economy readies to cut some 5,000 jobs in its home market. Read more Leslie Odom Jr. on marking 10 years of Hamilton Leslie Odom Jr. and the cast of "Hamilton" perform at the 78th Annual Tony Awards in New York City, June 8, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid/File Photo It's been a milestone year for the musical based on US founding father Alexander Hamilton. The hit show turned 10 this summer — marking a decade since it stormed Broadway, rewrote the rules of musical theater, and became that rare cultural phenomenon everyone from high school students to US presidents had an opinion about. Leslie Odom Jr., who played Aaron Burr, reflects on how 10 years away have given him a new perspective — on Burr, on the show's place in our culture, and on why "Hamilton" still resonates in 2025. Read more Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters' website 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. This email includes limited tracking for Reuters to understand whether you've engaged with its contents. 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