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Weekend Briefing
Weekend Briefing
From Reuters Daily Briefing
By Linda Noakes
Hello. I'm sitting in for Robert to bring you our Saturday roundup.
Today we're looking at how the US is war-gaming a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, and we bring you two compelling stories from the Amazon as Brazil prepares to host COP30.
Our City Memo takes you to Cape Town for Rooibos brews, local braais and coastal hikes. Plus, the rise of the AI 'gut check' - why people are turning to chatbots for guidance on major life decisions.
Filipino soldiers on an island in Batanes province. Ezra Acayan/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
What if Beijing attacked Taiwan?: You can’t invade Taiwan if you don’t control the northern Philippines, a former Philippine military chief told Reuters. Until recently, Batanes province was a peaceful backwater. But geography dictates that it is now on the frontline of the competition between the US and China for dominance in the Asia-Pacific region.
Venezuela tensions: US strikes against suspected drug vessels in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean have killed dozens. Are the strikes legal? US officials involved have been asked to sign non-disclosure agreements, a development that raises new questions about a military buildup that Venezuela fears may lead to an invasion. In this week's On Assignment podcast, investigative reporter Sarah Kinosian and Pentagon correspondent Phil Stewart explore what Trump's policies mean for the region.
Can Democrats find their footing?: New Jersey and Virginia are the only states holding gubernatorial elections on Tuesday. Democrats, locked out of power in Washington, are hoping a clean sweep can provide a burst of momentum ahead of next year's midterm battle for control of Congress.
Trying to get along in NYC: The policies of mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani include hiking taxes on the wealthiest, freezing stabilized apartment rental rates and increasing publicly subsidized housing. Wall Street leaders are concerned, but many are hopeful he moderates his positions as they prepare to work alongside him.
Eat poisoned fish or go hungry: Brazilian public health researchers have found mounting evidence in the state hosting COP30 that mercury poisoning from illegal gold mining has caused widespread neurological problems and disabilities in Indigenous children.
Soy frontier advances: For most of his life, Welton de Franca has fished among rocks on one of the largest tributaries in the Amazon Basin. Brazil's government now wants to blow them up, blasting a channel through 22 miles of rapids to turn this sleepy stretch of rainforest into an expressway for the farm belt.
A very public defenestration: King Charles' banishment of his brother Andrew marked one of the most dramatic moves against a member of the royal family in modern British history. But the profound damage to the monarchy may not have been contained.
'Air Miles Andy' brought down to Earth: Once widely reputed to be Queen Elizabeth's favorite son and a favorite of the tabloids for his jetset lifestyle, Andrew will now be etched into the public memory as the royal who was accused of sexually abusing a teenage girl and lost his title.
Before I forget…
South Korea welcomed Trump with a replica gold crown and awarded him with the 'Grand Order of Mugunghwa', the country's highest decoration.
China's heatwaves are threatening to dry up the supply of delicious 'hairy crabs', one of China's most esteemed culinary delicacies.
Climate change is narrowing the window for record-breaking performances at the world's top marathons, according to new research released ahead of Sunday's New York City Marathon.
Italy's chronic tax evasion started to rise again four years ago after years of declines, and has been worse than thought, the latest government data showed. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called for moves to soften the approach to tax collection.
DNA from a mass grave has revealed the pathogens that beset Napoleon Bonaparte's army in the 1812 retreat from Russia, in which about 300,000 soldiers perished.
NASA's X-59 supersonic-but-quiet jet soared over the Southern California desert in the first test flight of an experimental aircraft designed to break the sound barrier with little noise.
The world's largest Orthodox church has opened its doors in Romania after 15 years of construction, and it's pretty spectacular.
