UK's Starmer vows to fight on

Plus, Trump says ceasefire still holds.

Go beyond the headlines with Reuters on the stories shaping the day. Subscribe for $1/week. Subscribe now. Daily Briefing Daily Briefing By Kate Turton Hello. In today's headlines, the UK's Starmer vows to fight on after Labour is punished in local polls and US and Iranian forces clash in the Gulf. Elsewhere, Trump’s crackdown on China-linked solar firms stalls the US factory boom, and read our exclusive on the series of well-timed market bets on falling oil prices totalling as much as $7 billion. Plus, happy 100th birthday David Attenborough.  Today's Top News   Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a press conference at Downing Street in London, Britain, April 1, 2026. Frank Augstein/Pool via REUTERS Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed to fight on to deliver on his promise to bring "change" to Britain after his Labour Party suffered heavy losses in local elections. Political editor Elizabeth Piper tells the Reuters World News podcast why Reform UK is the big winner. US and Iranian forces clashed in the Gulf, and the UAE came under renewed attack, endangering a month-old ceasefire and ‌shaking hopes for a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Russia and Ukraine accused each other of violating a unilateral two-day ceasefire announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin to cover the anniversary celebrations of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany. Global perceptions of the US have deteriorated for a second consecutive year and are now worse than views of Russia, an annual study on democracy showed, as US President Donald Trump's policies continue ‌to severely strain the NATO alliance. Tennessee Republicans approved a new congressional map dismantling a majority-Black US House district centered on Memphis, as several other Southern states seek to leverage last week's US Supreme Court decision that severely weakened the landmark Voting Rights Act. A new suspected case of hantavirus was identified in a British national on the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, as efforts continue to trace passengers of the luxury cruise ship hit by ‌the virus and their immediate contacts. Pope Leo asked that God would inspire world leaders to calm global tensions and reduce hatred in an address to mark his first anniversary as head of the ‌Catholic Church, a day after he met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Vatican. Business & Markets   Many American car buyers are gravitating toward hybrid vehicles to offset the recent surge in gas prices from the Iran war, according to fresh industry sales data and dealers. US hybrid sales rose 37% in the two months since the Middle East conflict began.  A series of well-timed market bets on falling oil prices totalling as much as $7 billion during March and April spread across multiple exchanges and types of fuel and derivatives just before major Iranian policy announcements by Trump, according to traders, market experts and Reuters analysis of exchange data. A US trade court dealt another blow to Trump's tariff strategy, ruling that his latest 10% temporary global duties are unjustified under a 1970s trade law, but blocked the levies only for two private importers and the State of Washington. Nintendo and Sony both flagged the impact from surging memory prices on their games businesses, as the artificial intelligence boom constrains chip supply and deepens disruptions ‌across the tech sector. Cloudflare said it would cut about 20% of its ‌workforce as the company restructures operations around the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence tools, and forecast second-quarter revenue slightly below Wall Street expectations. The Week Ahead Voters will head to the polls in the Bahamas for an early election on May 12, as the Caribbean nation battles affordability issues. Tuesday's US April consumer price index is expected to rise 0.6% after March's 0.9% jump, the biggest increase in almost four years, according to a Reuters poll.  The US President visits Beijing on ‌May 14-15, his first China visit in eight years. This year's Cannes Film Festival will pit stalwarts of arthouse cinema against a small pool of newer voices as 21 titles compete for the gathering's prestigious main prize. Here's all you need to know about the coming week in financial markets. Trump’s crackdown on China-linked solar firms stalls US factory boom   An assembly line moves solar panels through manufacturing at First Solar in Perrysburg. REUTERS/Megan Jelinger/ File Photo Top solar companies, banks and insurers have stopped doing business with at least a half dozen recently built US panel factories because of uncertainty over whether their ties to China could disqualify them from clean-energy subsidies, according to industry executives and documents reviewed by Reuters. The shift, driven by new Trump administration policies, jeopardizes more than a third of US solar capacity in factories initially built by Chinese firms. Details of how the policy uncertainty is driving installers and insurers away from US solar factories with China ties have not been previously reported. Read more And Finally... A drone view shows artists working on a giant sand portrait of David Attenborough to mark his 100th birthday, Morecambe, Britain, May 6, 2026. REUTERS/Phil Noble David Attenborough said he had been "completely overwhelmed" by birthday greetings as he turned 100 in a worldwide outpouring of affection for the British wildlife broadcaster after decades of trailblazing work. After more than 70 years of film-making, Attenborough's instantly recognizable voice is synonymous with the story ‌of nature. He is still at the vanguard of efforts to protect the environment and has produced some of his most influential work in recent years. 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 and Iran inch toward a deal

Plus, millions of British voters cast their ballots.

Go beyond the headlines with Reuters on the stories shaping the day. Subscribe for $1/week. Subscribe now. Daily Briefing Daily Briefing By Kate Turton Hello. The US and Iran are inching toward a short-term deal to end fighting, oil supplies are set to tighten further in the coming weeks, and UK voters cast their ballots  Plus, inside Congo's deadly health misinformation crisis. Today's Top News   People chant during a rally in Tehran, Iran, May 6, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS Middle East The United States and Iran are edging toward a limited, temporary agreement to halt their war, sources and officials said, with a draft framework that would stop the fighting but leave the most contentious issues unresolved. With their location trackers shut off to avoid Iranian attacks, the United Arab Emirates and buyers have recently sailed several tankers loaded with crude through the Strait of Hormuz in a bid to move oil bottled up in the Gulf, according to industry sources and shipping data. Read our exclusive. Israel said it had killed a commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force in an airstrike on Beirut a day earlier, the first Israeli attack on the Lebanese capital since a ceasefire agreed last month. In other news Millions of British voters cast their ballots today in local and regional elections that are expected to deal a huge blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party and renew questions over his ability to govern. The Trump administration blitz that flooded Minnesota with immigration agents also dramatically slowed other federal investigations and prosecutions into an array of serious crimes, a Reuters review of federal court records found. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio came ‌to the Vatican for a potentially fraught encounter with Pope Leo as Trump has continued a series of disparaging attacks on the Catholic leader over the Iran war. Countries worldwide scrambled to trace people who had left the cruise ship hit by ‌a hantavirus outbreak before it got marooned off the coast of Cape Verde, to prevent further spread of the disease. Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvia heads to the White House today for a high-stakes meeting with the US president. Reporter Lisandra Paraguassu tells the Reuters World News podcast that with an election looming, Lula needs to show voters he can go toe-to-toe with Trump. Business & Markets   Oil supplies are set to tighten further in coming weeks even if the US and Iran agree on a peace deal to end their war because it will take weeks for oil shipments to resume from the Middle East Gulf and reach refiners worldwide - so oil companies will continue to deplete storage tanks to meet peak summer demand. Japan faces no constraints on how often it can intervene in currency markets and is in daily contact with US authorities, its top currency diplomat said, reinforcing Tokyo's resolve to defend the embattled yen. Anthropic said it reached a deal to tap the computing resources of Elon Musk's SpaceX, marking a détente with its one-time critic and a boost for both companies ‌in the high-stakes artificial intelligence race. Arm Holdings tumbled on investor worries about the company's ability to secure sufficient supplies for its new AI chip to meet demand, overshadowing its strong forecast. With UK 10-year debt yielding 5%, roughly the highest in over a decade, PM Keir Starmer may face brutal losses in local polls. He could then leave, or steer left. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss the impact on the country’s budget policy and markets. Fake rumors, real killings: Inside Congo's deadly health misinformation crisis   Justine Tangakeya Basekauke, widow of murdered health worker Dr. John Tangakey. Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo. REUTERS/Reuters TV In Tshopo, a northeastern Congolese province blanketed in rainforest, rumors rippled through villages late last year claiming a mysterious illness had caused men's genitals to atrophy. Within days, testimonials proliferated on social media that amplified the imaginary threat, triggering a real-life panic that turned deadly before the government could react. Angry mobs attacked and killed four health workers conducting vaccination research in an episode that took place in October, four officials and a survivor told Reuters - a deadly example of the rising danger posed by online health misinformation in Africa. Read more And Finally... Players from Esporte Clube Originarios, a team composed entirely of Indigenous athletes, train in Marica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. REUTERS/Tita Barros From a village on the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, Indigenous people have founded a professional soccer team made up solely of players from across Brazil, turning the state championship into a new front in their ‌struggle for representation. The purpose of the Originarios team, the first fully Indigenous team to compete in an official soccer championship in Rio, goes far beyond scoring goals. 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