Trump falls short on foreign policy

Plus, sexual assault in Ceuta

Stay informed with Reuters. Subscribe for $1/week. Weekend Briefing Weekend Briefing From Reuters Daily Briefing   By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor Welcome to the Weekend Briefing. Our analysis on Donald Trump’s foreign policy makes for engrossing reading, as does our report on his failure to secure a trade deal with Canada. (Note: Those tariffs are dampening the ardor for a separate Québec.) The U.S. plans to pay $725 million of the more than $4 billion it owes to the United Nations. On a completely different note, how many jerseys in soccer is too many? Trump falls short on foreign policy   REUTERS/Kylie Cooper Stalled: He promised to bring peace to multiple conflicts and made that pledge a centerpiece of his second-term agenda. His failure to resolve the Iran conflict and end the Ukraine-Russia war could cost Republicans dearly in November’s midterm elections. Then there is Gaza, where Trump’s peace plan remains deadlocked. Ground reports: An Israeli man guarding Jewish settlers who were occupying land in a Palestinian village killed a 17-year-old boy. Israel’s military acknowledged that its troops fired shots at a car in Gaza in 2024, killing 5-year-old Hind Rajab. Migrant women report sexual harassment and assault in Ceuta ‘They follow you’: Women sleeping outdoors after crossing into the Spanish enclave have reported sex crimes to local authorities, including a minor who allegedly was penetrated and forced to sell drugs.  “A lot of guys are trying to attack the girls every night, sometimes just when you go to the toilet.” Another said police told the women there was little they could do. Hunger in Somalia: UNICEF expects nearly 1.9 million children to face malnourishment this year and forecasts a 32% jump in the number of children to facilities with severe acute malnutrition and complications. More than 200 health and nutrition facilities have closed because of Western aid cuts. A miscalculation in Ukraine Fedorov’s gamble: Ukraine’s ousted defense minister tried to broaden a political fight with Volodymyr Zelenskiy by calling for wartime elections. It didn’t work, so Mykhailo Fedorov is off to the United States to try his hand at investment funds and Ukrainian startups, a source said. Denial: Kim Jong Un’s sister denied Zelenskiy’s claim that North Korea plans to send up to 50,000 more troops to Russia. Some hate it hot Sicily: The town of Floridia recorded Europe’s hottest temperature, 48.8C/119.8F, in August 2021. Residents thought it would be an isolated event, but now it’s a way of life, one that some compare to the pandemic lockdowns. The bill: The bulk of the losses from wildfires and floods throughout Europe over the past few years are uninsured. That means the public will pay unless countries come up with another solution. It’s mosquito season Disease: The Michigan health department confirmed a rare locally acquired case of eastern equine encephalitis. Four people in North Macedonia died of West Nile fever and 38 have tested positive this year. The Netherlands detected its own case for the first time since 2020. Global warming is increasing the spread of the chikungunya virus and tick-borne encephalitis, Bavarian Nordic’s CEO said. Trend: U.S. kindergarten vaccination coverage fell during the 2025-2026 school year. The decline has persisted every year except one since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC reported. Keep your seatbelt on at Sydney airport Close calls: Australia’s transport safety regulator is investigating a fourth incident at the airport in less than a month after air traffic control directed two planes toward the same intersection on the ground. Australia roundup: A court began hearing the appeal of Erin Patterson, who was convicted of murdering three of her estranged husband’s relatives by feeding them toxic death-cap mushrooms. And police recovered the body of a missing teenage hiker near Sydney. New South Wales’ premier apologized for initially reporting that 18-year-old Lily Hooper had been found alive. Before I forget… An 18-year-old man armed with a sword attacked students at a Swedish high school, killing one person and injuring three. Harvard University will pay $53 million to resolve lawsuits from families after the former manager of its morgue sold their relatives’ body parts on the black market. Authorities warned that there are tens of thousands of potentially unsafe condoms floating around France’s shops and pharmacies. Bolivian police detained Argentine consultant Fernando Cerimedo, an adviser to President Rodrigo Paz, as a suspect in the shooting of political commentator Nadia Beller. The Milky Way may be our home and all, but make sure you keep your hands and feet away from its mouth. The editor of this newsletter for nearly four years left us to run the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s newsroom. Good luck, Simon.   Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters' website   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 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. For more information on how we process your personal information and your rights, please see our Privacy Statement. Terms & Conditions   © 2026 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036

Iran vows 'devastating' response

As the US threatens toughest ever economic hit.

Go beyond the headlines with Reuters on the stories shaping the day. Subscribe for $1/week. Daily Briefing Daily Briefing By Kate Turton Hello. Iran vows a 'devastating' response as the US threatens to impose an economic hit, Trump seeks to bolster Graham's Senate bid with a South Carolina rally, and North Korea's cool response to Trump's outreach Plus, unlocking the secrets of the "unicorn of the sea". Today's Top News   Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo Iran said that its response to any new US threats would be "devastating" after Washington pledged to impose the toughest financial penalties in history with the aim of toppling the Iranian leadership. Here are some of Iran's main trading partners in recent years. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has warned militant Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank not to steal property owned by Palestinian Americans, describing such behavior as "a violation of God's law". Senior Israel Correspondent Alexander Cornwell tells the Reuters World News podcast why his warning is so striking.  Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan was declared medically fit and sent back to prison after being examined by a team of doctors in a hospital overnight, the country's information ‌minister said. President Donald Trump says he wants to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year. But his overtures have drawn a frosty response from Pyongyang, suggesting it will set tough conditions to hold such a meeting. Trump signed a memo to help drastically increase ‌the number of US commercial space launches, including directing government agencies to look at federal land for new launch and re-entry sites. Ousted Ukrainian defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov will go to the United States to raise money for new defense technology projects as he seeks new ventures after ‌losing his post, a source close to the former minister told Reuters. World soccer’s regional powerhouses are discussing whether to move a vote of no confidence as they seek to oust FIFA President Gianni Infantino after he angered them with a proposal to sell private investors a stake in the World Cup, senior figures familiar with the ‌discussions told Reuters. Business & Markets   The US Treasury's surprise bond buyback failed to quell lingering concerns about inflation and expanding government debt, as bond yields rose, dragging the dollar higher as well. It was a vision to give South Korea a stock market that reflected its true economic dynamism, by shedding regulatory taboos and encouraging bolder bets - instead, it created an investor trauma that could take years to shake off. India has directed Google to shut down hundreds of accounts on its Firebase web development platform after finding a pattern of criminals misusing the service to impersonate major banks and defraud people. Uruguay seemed like the perfect place for cryptocurrency giant Tether to launch a bitcoin mining operation. But amid a dispute over the amount of energy that would be supplied for its thirsty bitcoin mining, the plans unraveled and the ‌mining sites were abandoned, a Reuters review of documents and interviews with multiple people reveals.  Walmart just lost nearly 10% of its value in a day. We unpack what it says about the US economy on the Reuters Morning Bid podcast.  The Week Ahead This weekend Trump will cap off the country’s summer celebrations of its 250th anniversary with a roaring auto race through the streets of Washington. Kazakhstan votes on Sunday in a snap parliamentary election expected to strengthen President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's hold ‌over the country. Arsenal will open their title defense as the new Premier League season kicks off.  Nvidia,  whose chips underpin much of the AI infrastructure buildout, reports second-quarter results. The company has become a proxy for the broader AI ecosystem spanning chip makers and companies financing the rapid expansion of data center capacity. Darline Graham faces off against Representative Ralph Norman, her opponent in next Tuesday's Republican primary runoff in South Carolina. Killing of Guinea-Bissau rapper sends opposition underground   A drone view shows a statue of Amilcar Lopes Cabral.  Bissau, Guinea-Bissau. REUTERS/Luc Gnago/File Photo  In the months before opposition activist and rapper Vigario Luis Balanta was beaten to death and his body dumped in a field outside the capital of Guinea-Bissau, his wife begged him to keep a low profile. Balanta's ‌killing in March sent shockwaves through the political movement he founded in the West African country, which has been under military rule since late November. The new leaders of his movement have gone underground as they seek ways to end the cycle of coups and violence since independence from Portugal in 1974. Read more And Finally... Narwhals swim in the waters off Northwest Greenland in this undated handout image released on August 18, 2026. Carsten Egevang/Greenland Institute of Natural Resources In the Middle Ages, narwhal tusks were sold as unicorn horns blessed with magical powers such as neutralizing poisons and curing diseases — prized possessions of monarchs and nobles worth more than their weight in gold. They provided no such ‌powers, of course, but even today remain objects of mystery. Researchers have now deciphered the internal structure of these spiral-shaped tusks — actually a straight and elongated canine tooth that protrudes from a narwhal's mouth, sometimes reaching up to 10 feet (3 meters) long. 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. For more information on how we process your personal information and your rights, please see our Privacy Statement. Terms & Conditions   © 2026 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036