Reuters Daily Briefing

"Profiting from the presidency?"

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Daily Briefing

By Kate Turton

Hello. A poll finds most Americans believe Trump has inappropriately profited since returning to power, Ukraine's ousted defense minister calls for wartime elections, and Trump says no talks are planned with Iran as Tehran says the Strait of Hormuz is still shut. Plus, Japan's farmers go nocturnal as deadly heat intensifies.

Today's Top News   REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez United States US President Donald Trump deployed thousands of National Guard troops to Washington last summer as the centerpiece of what he describes as a no-holds-barred effort to combat crime, especially in cities run by Democrats. What the soldiers seldom do, Reuters found, is fight crime. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds most Americans, including nearly half of Republicans, think Trump has been improperly cashing in on his presidency. Jason Lange tells the Reuters World News podcast, that could spell trouble for Republicans in November. Democratic socialist Angie Nixon scored an upset victory in Florida's Democratic primary race for the US Senate, as voters in several states picked candidates for elections that will determine control of Congress. In other news Ukraine's ousted Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for wartime elections in a bombshell address, arguing the nation faced a crisis of governance, in the biggest internal challenge to ‌President Volodymyr Zelenskiy since Russia's invasion. Trump said no talks were taking place with Iran and insisted the Strait of Hormuz was open, contradicting Iran's assertion that the critical waterway remained shut to ‌shipping. China has completed the first phase of construction on Antelope Reef in the Paracels archipelago, building a man-made island in the hotly-disputed South China Sea that analysts say will form part of its largest military base. Human-caused climate change was the main driver of recent record-breaking sea temperatures around Europe, scientists said on Wednesday, warning of severe consequences for marine ecosystems and coastal communities.

Business & Markets   A vehicle crossing the $4.7 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge, connecting Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio/File Photo Trump announced he was putting a three-day pause on new 50% tariffs set to go into effect on Canadian goods at midnight, saying the two countries had reached a deal. A jump in household energy bills pushed British inflation to a four-month high in July, matching forecasts, and it looks set to rise further as the war in Iran grinds ‌on with no end in sight. Meta rejected accusations by US states that it intentionally sought to addict children to its Facebook and Instagram platforms in pursuit of profit, at the start of a trial that could reshape some of the most popular apps on the planet. Oil refiners in India and the US are reaping a bonanza as wars in Iran and Ukraine have disrupted global fuel supplies, driven up prices, and left importers scrambling for barrels at the height of the US summer driving season. Shares in Unitree, China's best-known humanoid robot maker, soared nearly six-fold in its Shanghai trading debut, in a landmark moment for the country's robotics sector which has become a key battleground in the Sino-US tech war.

Japan's farmers go nocturnal as deadly heat intensifies   Iijima and an employee harvest gerbera flowers inside an illuminated greenhouse at night in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture. REUTERS/Issei Kato Long after sunset, Motoaki Iijima’s illuminated greenhouse north of Tokyo glows like a lantern as the flower farmer harvests pink and orange gerberas, avoiding a daytime sun fierce enough to be deadly. As increasingly intense heatwaves turn Japanese summers into survival tests, farmers — from flower and asparagus growers to egg producers — are rewriting the agrarian clock. Once-busy midday hours are now avoided as a mortal threat, replaced by after-dark work to protect crops, livestock and themselves. Read our special report

And Finally... Crew members watch a monitor with vertical framing as actors Isabel Feldman and Evan Adams film a scene during a CandyJar microdrama production. REUTERS/Mike Blake  When Craig Williams opened his production facility in downtown Los Angeles two years ago, he thought he would rent out the converted furniture warehouse for the occasional music video to sustain his fledgling film business. Williams was blindsided by a phenomenon that quickly overtook his production space: microdramas, vertically shot serials delivered in two-minute episodes, played on phones. Read more

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