Investors go bargain-hunting after ‘software‑mageddon’

Plus, concerns about Starmer's future mount.

Get full access to Reuters.com for just $1/week. Subscribe now. Daily Briefing Daily Briefing By Kate Turton Hello. The US Justice Department unit on police misconduct sees probes scaled back, China removes three lawmakers with defence-sector ties, and a 'software-mageddon' leaves investors bargain-hunting but wary. Plus, the heavy reality of Venezuela's oil. Today's Top News   Trump speaks during his visit to the Department of Justice to address its workers, in Washington, D.C., March 14, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo United States The Justice Department unit responsible for prosecuting potential wrongdoing by law enforcement, including during the crackdown on illegal immigration in Minneapolis, has lost two-thirds of its prosecutors and is under orders to scale back its investigations of excessive force, people familiar with its work told Reuters. A team working for President Donald Trump's spy chief, Tulsi Gabbard, last spring led an investigation into Puerto Rico's voting machines, said Gabbard's office and three sources familiar with the previously unreported events. Popular US morning news anchor Savannah Guthrie posted a video message addressing anyone who might be holding her missing elderly mother, presumed abducted from her Arizona home this week, pleading for them to open a line of communication. In other news Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has earned global admiration for openly declaring the end of a global order based on rules, but he has had far less success addressing a growing and more quotidian concern at home: the rising cost of food. The US and Iran have agreed to hold talks in Oman, officials for both sides said, even as they remained at odds over Washington's insistence that negotiations include Tehran's missile arsenal and Iran's vow to discuss only its nuclear program. Three Chinese lawmakers with ties to the defence sector have been removed from their positions, state media said in the wake of an investigation of the nation's top general, just as Beijing tries to modernise its military. Concerns are mounting over whether Prime Minister Keir Starmer can survive the fallout from his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador despite knowing about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.  As Russia and Ukraine started new US-brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi, Moscow's forces have slowly ground forward along various parts of the 745 mile front line in recent months. US athletes in Milan are bracing for what could be a chilly Winter Games reception as political unrest at home spills into the host country and fuels protests. Global Sports Editor Ossian Shine will be sharing his insights in the Reuters Inside Track newsletter for the duration of the Winter Olympics. Sign up here. Business & Markets   This week's AI-fueled stock selloff has refocused questions on whether AI technology is a threat to the job market. Reuters economics editor Mark John tells the Reuters World News podcast that there is evidence that hiring is slowing down as AI use in workplaces expands. Alphabet is taking on OpenAI with a gusto that underscores Wall Street's perception that the Google parent is the leader in AI, a turn of events from a year ago when investors thought it was badly lagging behind rivals and punished its stock. Big US banks' lobbying spend jumped 12% last year, the most in more than a decade, as they intensified efforts to navigate major policy flux in Washington Trump's administration, according to a Reuters analysis of disclosure data and industry lobbyists. Online retailers such as Shein will face a "year of resistance" in France, the country's minister for small and medium-sized businesses Serge Papin said, adding that the platforms posed unfair competition to French chains. Britain's aviation authority has asked Air India to explain how a Boeing Dreamliner passenger jet which was grounded on arrival in India for safety checks took off from London with a possibly faulty fuel switch, a letter shows. Bitcoin was on the cusp of breaking below the key $70,000 level as a slide in the world's largest cryptocurrency showed no signs of stopping.  The heavy reality of Venezuela's oil   Since US forces seized and deposed Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, the US has said it would control Venezuela's vast oil resources indefinitely. Despite having the world's largest reserves, Venezuela's crude production has been low, accounting for about 1% of global production in 2024 — less than 1 million barrels per day. Venezuela's oil reserves are massive, but not all crude is created equal. View our graphics And Finally... Models present creations from the Michael Kors Spring 2026 collection during New York Fashion Week. September 11, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo  New York Fashion Week will kick off the month-long fashion show season, at a time when some US labels are finding new popularity even as the luxury industry struggles with a global slowdown. Among the closely watched catwalk shows will be Ralph Lauren and Coach, both of whom have bucked the trend and are enjoying strong demand, with preppy styles in and some shoppers opting for more affordable handbags after sharp price hikes at the likes of Chanel and Dior. 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

US shoots down Iranian drone

Plus, global software stock selloff deepens.

Get full access to Reuters.com for just $1/week. Subscribe now. Daily Briefing Daily Briefing By Kate Turton Hello. The US shoots down an Iranian drone approaching its aircraft carrier, a new arms race looms as the clock ticks down on the last Russia-US nuclear treaty, and global software stock selloff deepens amid growing concerns about AI. Plus, meet Penny, the winner of this year's Westminster dog show. Today's Top News   The USS Abraham Lincoln. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo The US has shot down an Iranian drone it says aggressively approached of its aircraft carriers. A few hours after that incident, a US-flagged vessel was approached by Iranian speedboats ordering it to stop. It sped away under a US destroyer escort. Listen to Idrees Ali share more details on both incidents on the Reuters World News podcast.  Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes killed 20 Palestinians including four children in Gaza, health officials said, the latest violence to undermine a truce in the enclave. President Donald Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro said they had a cordial meeting in their first face-to-face encounter, defying the fears of some analysts and advisers who questioned whether the two would get along. Trump signed a spending deal into law that ends a partial US government shutdown and gives lawmakers time to negotiate potential limits on his immigration crackdown. State prisons in the United States became more violent and nearly 50% deadlier over the past five years as authorities struggled to keep enough guards on the job, according to a government-funded report. Ukrainian and Russian negotiators began a second round of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi, seeking to advance efforts to end Europe's biggest conflict since World War Two. Spanish and Portuguese authorities braced for the impact of Storm Leo, suspending classes in some areas and warning against travel, just one week after deadly Storm Kristin wreaked havoc across the Iberian Peninsula. Greenland, the coveted Arctic island, experienced its warmest January on record this year, as a rate of warming four times faster than the global average redraws the outlook for sectors from fishing to mining. Business & Markets    The deep selloff in global software stocks entered a second day, reflecting growing concerns about how advances in artificial intelligence might impact these companies' livelihoods. Listen to our Morning Bid podcast for more on this story. Walmart became the first retailer ever to hit $1 trillion in market valuation, riding on a year-long rally that has seen its shares rise nearly 26%, placing it among the ranks of Big Tech heavyweights such as Nvidia and Alphabet. Seventy-five years ago, the idea of harnessing the power of the skies was little more than fantasy spun by futurists like Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov. Elon Musk's mega-merger of his companies xAI and SpaceX this week brings this sci-fi dream a step closer. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi should not count on the Bank of Japan's help in taming sharp bond yield rises given the huge cost of intervention, including the significant risk of igniting unwelcome yen falls, sources say. Novo Nordisk's shares tumbled as much as 20% as the Danish obesity drug giant warned it would face "unprecedented" price pressures in 2026. Ford and China's Geely are in discussions about a potential partnership, eight people with knowledge of the ongoing talks said, as the world's carmakers look to share heavier technology and manufacturing costs. China warned Panama there would be "heavy prices" to pay after a court ruling there annulled Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison's contract to operate two ports at the Panama Canal. New arms race looms as clock ticks down on last Russia-US nuclear treaty   Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, who were then and Russian presidents, sign the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Prague, April 8, 2010. REUTERS/Jason Reed/File Photo The last nuclear treaty between Russia and the United States is due to expire within hours, raising the risk of a new arms race in which China will also play a key role. The web of arms control deals negotiated in the decades since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, considered the closest the world ever came to intentional nuclear war, was aimed at reducing the chance of a catastrophic nuclear exchange. Unless Washington and Moscow reach a last-minute understanding of some kind, the world's two biggest nuclear powers will be left without any limits for the first time in more than half a century when the New START treaty expires. Read more And Finally... Penny after winning the 'Best in Show' competition at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club dog show in New York City, February 3, 2026. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton Penny, a 4-year-old Doberman pinscher, won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, capturing the most prestigious dog show prize in the United States. Penny cut a majestic stance in the final round of judging, when the finalists of seven groups competed at New York City's Madison Square Garden. 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