AI CEOs hit the brakes

Plus, Hormuz talks postponed and oil prices jump.

Go beyond the headlines with Reuters on the stories shaping the day. Subscribe for $1/week. Daily Briefing Daily Briefing By Claire Beers Hello. Hormuz talks are postponed and oil prices jump, as Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia continue. AI-linked stocks slump after CEOs call for the slowing of development. And Trump calls $5,000 payouts 'easy' to fit into the federal budget. Plus, London 'plant parents' screened for adoption of rare blooms.  Today's Top News   Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman. REUTERS War in the Middle East President Donald Trump suggested the United States could stay in Iran and "keep the ‌oil", drawing a parallel with a US push to take control of a fifth of Venezuela's vast oil reserves. Follow our live page for the latest. Middle East diplomacy appeared to falter after a meeting between Iran and other Gulf powers was postponed. At the same time, attacks along the region's two most important oil transit routes deepened concerns about global energy supplies. The Houthi capture of Yemen's Red Sea coastline is reshaping the balance of power in the Gulf, strengthening Iran's hand and confronting Saudi Arabia and its neighbors with a difficult choice: absorb mounting costs or seek accommodation with Tehran. Oil prices rose about 3% after new strikes on Saudi Arabian energy and civilian infrastructure ‌and Iranian attacks on ships in the Gulf compounded supply concerns following the closure of a key Saudi oil pipeline. In other news President Trump called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to stop targeting Russian diesel infrastructure, saying the attacks were causing a shortage of the fuel that is "hurting the world". Hundreds of Indonesian rescuers, including the coast guard and the navy, raced to board a passenger ship that capsized in the Java Sea over the weekend as they ‌searched for 129 people still missing. Sweden's center-left opposition looked set to form the next government as preliminary election results showed it holding a narrow three-seat lead over the right-wing ruling parties with ‌most of the votes counted. Business & Markets   AI-connected stocks fell sharply after the CEOs of the US companies developing the most advanced AI models warned the pace of ‌development must slow to prevent threats to humanity. Technology correspondent Deepa Seetharaman tells the Reuters World News podcast what's driving the fears and discusses whether slowing down is even possible. A year after shifting production and sourcing out of China to avoid higher US tariffs, some companies are learning that replicating the country's factory ecosystem is not so easy and are bringing manufacturing back. Latvia's airBaltic voluntarily filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code in New York as part of a restructuring to ‌reduce debt as the Iran war piles stress on the airline sector. Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote launched Africa's largest share sale yet with the initial public offering of his oil refinery, opening up ownership of the plant to retail investors and raising money for its expansion. US electric vehicle maker Tesla has established a subsidiary in Vietnam, according to a newly ‌published business registration filing, marking its formal entry into one of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing EV markets. Trump calls $5,000 payouts 'easy' to fit into federal budget   Trump speaks at the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas. REUTERS/Evan Vucci President Donald Trump said the United States can afford his promise to send $5,000 to every US adult should his Republican Party keep control of Congress in this year's elections. "I don't know but it's easy if the Republicans win. $5,000 ‌to all adults in the country and we can easily handle that because we're taking in so much money," Trump told reporters when asked if Congress would need to approve the payments, adding that trillions of dollars were coming into the country. But any such payment would need to be approved by Congress. "Of course, the devil's in the details. We have to figure all that out," House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said. Read more And Finally... Blanche Oguti adopted a Swiss cheese plant from the Barbican Conservatory. REUTERS/Leila Dougan London's Barbican Conservatory — a unique tropical escape above the city streets — was transformed into an unlikely adoption center, allowing hundreds of carefully screened "plant parents" to ‌take home cuttings of its rare flora. 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

Fresh attack squeezes Saudi oil

And learn about Ukraine's killer robots

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. The Gulf region is boiling and it’s not just the temperature. President Trump arrived in Ireland for a golf outing at one of his resorts and said he would love to see a united Ireland. (“Now the UK will have something to say about it,” he said.) Read our exclusive interview with the Nepali man who survived nine days in a dark tunnel after the Himalayan flood. Fresh attack squeezes Saudi oil   Planet Labs PBC via REUTERS The latest: Saudi Arabia shut a vital oil pipeline after a drone attack, possibly from Iraq where Iran-based militias operate. The 745-mile pipeline across the Arabian Peninsula is a crucial bypass to the Strait of Hormuz, which remains a logjam because of the war between the U.S. and Iran. Denied: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked Trump to help fight Yemen’s Houthis as they stepped up their threat to Red Sea shipping. Trump said no, sources said. BRICS nations are meeting in New Delhi where they hope to bridge divisions between Iran and the UAE over the Gulf conflict. At home with Ukraine’s killer robots Payload: Workshops run by Ukraine’s Third Army Corps are sprouting up along the front as their mechanics prepare four-wheeled unmanned vehicles called Hyenas that will crawl toward Russian lines with more than 40 pounds of explosives. The machines are part of Ukraine’s strategy to fight smarter while preserving troops’ lives on a battlefield saturated with drones. Morale boost: Russia sent bone fragments from the sword hand of a medieval Russian prince to the front. The remains of Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy, who defeated the Golden Horde at the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, are meant to “strengthen the soldiers’ spirits,” the Kremlin said. ‘Pretend that I’m on the ballot’ Unease: Trump used the Republican Party’s convention in Dallas to ask voters to treat this November’s midterm elections as a referendum on him. Some party loyalists we spoke to doubted that this would be a good strategy, $5,000 “Trump dividend” or not. Islam: Republicans running in this November’s elections are making a campaign issue of Muslims, a move critics call fear mongering. Sweden pays immigrants to leave $37,000: The amount paid to each immigrant by the right-wing government in the hope that it will help it secure re-election this Sunday. The election is effectively a referendum on whether a far-right party with roots in the neo-Nazi fringe should become trusted partners in what was once one of Europe’s most liberal states. Drift: Mexican border shelters are sitting empty as Trump’s crackdown has deterred migrants from heading north. Police drew firearms on people deported from the U.S. to Equatorial Guinea after they complained of inadequate medical care, denial of legal aid and “severe psychological distress.” ‘Three weeks ago, I thought he was dead’ FIFA: Gianni Infantino’s opponents will need to shift their strategy if they want to topple world soccer’s big boss. Sources say he can count on enough votes to win re-election. LIV ’em and leave ’em: The golf league formed in 2022 with $5 billion of Saudi money and the support of some of the sport’s biggest names filed for bankruptcy after the country’s Public Investment Fund said it was through with the venture. Golf pros Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson are the group’s top three unsecured creditors. What Tylenol use does to daughters Research: A mother’s use of Tylenol during pregnancy may affect female reproductive-organ development, researchers say. The study does not prove the medicine is to blame, nor indicates an impact on future fertility. EBay is investigating after Reuters found gender-prediction kits were available on its site for delivery to India. They are banned under a law meant to curb female feticide. Mental health: Lawyers in the U.S. suffer from elevated anxiety, stress, depression, burnout and problem drinking despite efforts in the past decade to improve attorney wellness, a survey found. Before I forget… The daughter of ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned from the World Health Organization over fraud investigations. She joins a list of people linked to corruption investigations related to Hasina, including her UK politician niece and a cricket star. Time to hang up the harpoon: Iceland’s government will submit a bill next February to ban whaling. That would leave Japan and Norway as the only other countries to continue the practice commercially. Teenagers are reading less than ever and they’re reading hastily when they do it at all, a study found. “I have never talked to so many people who have pooped their pants in adulthood.” Some say this is what we can look forward to in the U.S. with a weakened public-health system and outbreaks like this summer’s cyclosporiasis contamination. The good thing about being 119 is that no one expects you to lie about your age. But you might have to verify it.   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