US and Iran begin nuclear talks

Plus, all the news from the Winter Olympics.

Add Reuters to Your Google Preferred Sources Daily Briefing Daily Briefing By Jennifer O'Mahony Iran and the United States begin negotiations in Oman over Tehran's nuclear program, a top Russian general is shot in Moscow, and Toyota names chief financial officer Kenta Kon as its next chief executive. Plus, the Winter Olympics opening ceremony is held at San Siro stadium, combining elements from the co-hosts Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo to reflect city and mountain life. Today's Top News   Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meets with Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi in Muscat, Oman. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff were due to meet in Muscat to discuss Tehran's nuclear program, along with Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. Washington's push to widen the agenda to Iran's ballistic missiles and support for armed groups in the region has placed the talks under further pressure. Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, deputy head of Russia's GRU military intelligence, was hospitalized after being shot in Moscow. Several senior Russian officers have been assassinated since the start of the war in Ukraine, with Moscow blaming the attacks on Kyiv.  Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi received Trump's 'total endorsement' ahead of a snap election on Sunday. With polls suggesting a big win for her conservative party, here are some key developments to watch. Takaichi's handbag, pen and even her choice of snacks have sparked an unlikely youth-led craze. The fallout from last week's Epstein files release continues to sweep Europe. A former French culture minister is urged to resign as president of the Arab World Institute, Norway's former prime minister is under police investigation for corruption, and the World Economic Forum is investigating its CEO, all over their alleged ties. The United States called for a new arms control agreement after the treaty that set caps on Russian and US strategic nuclear weapons deployments expired. A suicide bomber killed at least 31 people and wounded nearly 170 more during Friday prayers in a Shi'ite Muslim mosque in Pakistan's capital Islamabad. Bombings are rarer in the heavily guarded capital. Authorities in southern Spain evacuated residential areas amid fears a major river could overflow after Storm Leonardo swept over the Iberian Peninsula. The state weather agency warned that Storm Marta would hit the peninsula on Saturday. Over 7,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in the Andalusia region so far. Business & Markets   Toyota's incoming CEO Kenta Kon attends a press conference in Tokyo, Japan. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon Toyota named Kenta Kon, a former secretary of Chairman Akio Toyoda, as its next chief executive. Kon became chief financial officer in July 2025 and he had taken on an expanded role within Toyota's push into wider mobility solutions. Read more about what we know about Kon. Global markets retreated as a stock rout on Wall Street went global, with volatility gripping precious metals and cryptocurrencies while AI fears weighed on equities. Compounding company Hims & Hers stunned the pharmaceutical industry with the announcement of a  $49-a-month weight-loss pill. Hims announced plans to offer a discounted compounded version of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, which had itself been losing ground to Eli Lilly's weight-loss drugs. Amina Niasse has more on the Reuters World News podcast. Intel and AMD notified Chinese customers of supply shortages for server central processing units. Intel warned of delivery lead times of up to six months, this Reuters exclusive reports. Automaker Stellantis announced 22.2 billion euros ($26.5 billion) of charges as it scales back its electric-vehicle ambitions. The company's Milan-listed shares plunged as much as 25%, the lowest since Stellantis was created by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA in 2021. The European Central Bank will work to open access to euro liquidity to more countries, in a move aimed at bolstering the international role of the single currency.  Australian shareholders applauded mining giant Rio Tinto's decision to end merger talks with rival Glencore. The Week Ahead Japan heads to the polls on Sunday, where Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is looking for a stronger mandate to deliver on her promises of more spending. The NFL's Super Bowl will take place in San Francisco on Sunday. The halftime show will be headlined by Grammy winner Bad Bunny. The January US non-farm payrolls report, now due on Wednesday, is expected to show an increase of 70,000 jobs, according to a Reuters poll. Friday sees the release of the US January consumer price index, one of the most closely watched measures for assessing inflation trends. On Thursday, Bangladesh will go to the polls. It will be the first election in decades where ousted premier Sheikh Hasina won't be on the ballot. Here's all you need to know about what's coming up in financial markets. Trump targets UN and ICC officials with terrorist‑grade sanctions    REUTERS/Illustration/John Emerson; Source photos: REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw and Jia Haocheng Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for Palestine, now sits on the US Treasury Department's Specially Designated Nationals list alongside individuals described as suspected al Qaeda terrorists, Mexican drug traffickers and North Korean arms dealers. Albanese was caught in a broader executive order issued by US President Donald Trump that sanctioned International Criminal Court judges and prosecutors, and aimed at heading off any future attempts to hold him or his officials accountable for US military action overseas. Our special report found deep divisions within the US government over the scope and timing of the sanctions against Albanese and the ICC, as the Trump administration's hostility towards the court and the UN signals a broader retreat from international human rights diplomacy and institutions. Read our special report And Finally... General view of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics cauldron in Cortina d'Ampezzo.  January 25, 2026. REUTERS/Claudia Greco/File Photo The Milano Cortina Winter Olympics will officially open later today in an opening ceremony expected to draw a huge global audience on television and online. Milan's San Siro soccer stadium will provide the stage for the main part of the ceremony, where US pop diva Mariah Carey and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will perform. For the first time, two Olympic cauldrons for the co-hosts will be lit simultaneously and burn throughout - one at Milan's Arco della Pace (Peace Arch) and the other in Cortina's Piazza Dibona. Reuters will bring you all the latest news from the Games, with a rolling medal tally, and you can sign up for a newsletter from our global editor for insights. 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

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