Experts warn of “vicious spiral" in political violence.

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Daily Briefing

Daily Briefing

By Kate Turton

Hello. In the US, experts warn of a “vicious spiral" in political violence after Charlie Kirk killing. Elsewhere, Russian drones in Poland's airspace stir worries for Europe's civil aviation, and Britain sacks US ambassador over Epstein links.

Plus, a potential sign of life on Mars.

 

Today's Top News

 

Kirk appears at a Utah Valley University speaking event in Orem, Utah. September 10, 2025. Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via REUTERS

United States

  • Conservative activist and commentator Charlie Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at a Utah university. Joseph Ax tells the Reuters World News podcast that President Donald Trump's video statement blaming the 'radical left' might inflame an already-divided country and lead to more political violence. 
  • What was meant to be a moment of silence in the House of Representatives for Kirk erupted in shouting and finger-pointing, an episode that provided a bitter illustration of a nation divided by political acrimony.
  • Trump’s expansion of executive power, including his unprecedented push to send troops into US cities to combat crime and his attempt to seize control of aspects of the economy, has left Americans uneasy, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

In other news

  • Britain has sacked Peter Mandelson as its ambassador to the United States over his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, its foreign ministry said.
  • When Trump met with the leader of Qatar, he praised his opulent palace and signed a sweeping defense agreement with the Gulf monarchy, a key ally that hosts the biggest US base in the Middle East. Israel's surprise attack against Hamas leaders in Doha has jolted that relationship, angering Trump.
  • The incursion of Russian drones in Poland has reignited safety concerns over the vulnerability of civil air transport in Europe, aviation and insurance experts said, the latest upheaval facing airlines from escalating global conflict.
  • Earthquakes that flattened villages in eastern Afghanistan this month destroyed homes and livestock, the only assets owned by most families, leaving survivors with almost nothing to rebuild as aid runs thin.
  • Spain's lower house has shelved a bill that would have shortened the work week by 2-1/2 hours, dealing yet another blow to the fragile Socialist-led minority government which is struggling to pass the reforms it had pledged through a fragmented parliament.
  • Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux voted to acquit former President Jair Bolsonaro of an alleged coup attempt and annul his trial over jurisdiction, breaking with peers and raising the odds of an appeal of a verdict this week.
  • Nepal's army was set to resume talks with "Gen Z" protesters to pick an interim leader for the Himalayan nation, an army spokesperson said, after angry demonstrations that killed 30 and forced the prime minister to resign.
 

Business & Markets

 
  • The US dollar has steadied since a record slide earlier this year, but many currency market players still view the greenback as locked in a bearish trend and are bracing themselves for further losses.
  • US consumer inflation likely picked up in August as the cost of gasoline rose and tariffs on imports raised some goods prices, but the pace of increase would probably not be strong enough to derail a much-anticipated interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week.
  • Mexico said it will raise tariffs on automobiles from China and other Asian countries to 50%, in a broad overhaul of import levies the government said would protect jobs and analysts said was aimed at placating the US. Meanwhile, here's how Chinese EV tech is reshaping global auto design.
  • Kraft Heinz's announcement this month that it would split was a belated acknowledgment that the Velveeta cheese and Heinz ketchup maker had missed consumers' years-long shift away from processed foods, a trend that is now accelerating under a new push from the federal government and states including California.
  • Oracle's shares rose, adding to a record run in the previous session and lifting stocks across the tech sector, as the company inches closer to the coveted trillion-dollar club on soaring gains from its AI cloud business.
  • Britain defended its record on attracting investment after US drugmaker Merck said it was abandoning a new London research center and a top industry lobby group warned a challenging business environment was hurting the sector.
  • The shock success of GLP-1 treatments for obesity carries massive implications for wealthy societies and manufacturers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly alike. In this week’s Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss how this would-be jackpot has companies running to keep up.
 

Ticket to the Arctic: Inside Russia's system of convict labour

 

Cars drive along a road during a snowstorm in the Arctic city of Norilsk, Russia, March 19, 2025. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo

In Russia, a growing number of convicts are plugging gaps in the workforce at a time of chronic labor shortages because of the war in Ukraine.

Forced labour sentences - prescribed for dozens of lesser offences such as theft - rose fivefold between 2020 and 2023, according to Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko.

Read more
 

And Finally...

A "selfie" taken by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover, made up of 62 individual images, on July 23.  NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Handout via REUTERS

According to scientists, a sample obtained by NASA's Perseverance rover of reddish rock formed billions of years ago from sediment at the bottom of a lake contains potential signs of ancient microbial life on Mars, though the minerals spotted in the sample also can form through nonbiological processes.

The discovery by the six-wheeled rover in Jezero Crater represents one of the best pieces of evidence to date about the possibility that Earth's planetary neighbor once harbored life.