Daily Briefing

Alexander Lukashenko says he persuaded Putin not to "wipe out" Yevgeny Prigozhin, military sources say Islamists wield a hidden hand in the Sudan conflict, and South Koreans became a year or two younger.

Plus, a journalist excavated his family's historical links to slavery.

By Kate Turton

Today's Top News

Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin amid the group's pullout from the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo

MUTINY FALLOUT RUMBLES ON

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he persuaded the Russian President not to "wipe out" Prigozhin, in response to what the Kremlin cast as a mutiny that pushed Russia towards civil war.
Eastern European NATO countries warned that a move of Wagner's Russian mercenary troops to Belarus would create greater regional instability, but NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance is ready to defend itself against any threat.
Military presence. Beer factories. Cheap vodka. The Reuters World News podcast takes a look inside the Wagner group's African business empire.

AROUND THE WORLD

Thousands of men who worked as intelligence operatives under former president Omar al-Bashir and have ties to his Islamist movement are fighting alongside the army in Sudan's war, three military sources and one intelligence source said, complicating efforts to end the bloodshed.
Over $200 billion from the US government's COVID-19 relief programs were potentially stolen, a federal watchdog said, adding that the US Small Business Administration had weakened its controls in a rush to disburse the funds.
A prolonged heat wave kept its grip on the US South as dangerously high temperatures rising well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit and oppressive humidity were on tap across a wide swath of the region through the holiday weekend.
Protesters armed with fireworks clashed with riot police in a Paris suburb overnight after a 17-year-old was shot dead by police during a traffic stop and prosecutors opened a homicide investigation.
One in seven people in the UK faced hunger last year because they did not have enough money, according to a report published by food bank charity the Trussell Trust.

Business & Markets

Annual profits at China's industrial firms extended a double-digit decline in the first five months as softening demand squeezed margins, reinforcing hopes of more policy support to bolster a stuttering post-COVID economic recovery.
The Indian manufacturer of cough syrups that Uzbekistan said last year had poisoned 19 children used a toxic industrial-grade ingredient rather than the legitimate pharmaceutical version, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The US is considering new restrictions on exports of artificial intelligence chips to China, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
A blazing US stock market rally left shares of energy companies behind in the first six months of 2023 as faltering global growth sapped expectations of oil demand. Some contrarian investors are betting a second half rebound may be in the works.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni criticized the European Central Bank over its repeated interest rate hikes, saying it was following a "simplistic" approach that could do more harm than good.

"The Slaves Built That": A Reuters journalist explores his ancestral ties

In the wake of George Floyd's killing, protesters took to the streets across America. REUTERS/Photo illustration

Special Report: Amid racial-justice protests, a Reuters journalist began exploring the ancestral ties to slavery of America's most powerful politicians. He also excavated his own family's history – which presented a more daunting challenge.

And Finally...

People walk near blooming cherry blossoms in Seoul, South Korea, April 2, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon/File Photo

South Koreans became a year or two younger on Wednesday as new laws that require using only the international method of counting age took effect, replacing the country's traditional method.

Under the age system most commonly used in South Koreans' everyday life, people are deemed to be a year old at birth and a year is added every Jan. 1.

Read more here: South Koreans become a year or two younger as traditional way of counting age scrapped

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