Putin's warning for the West

Plus, Gaza death toll passes 30,000.

Sign up for Reuters newsletters Daily Briefing Putin warns the West it risks a nuclear war, Mitch McConnell's legacy, and how Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani is kickstarting the massive celebrations for his son's wedding.   Plus, Norway gives Arctic foxes a helping hand.   By Kate Turton Today's Top News Palestinians shop at a market in Rafah, January 4, 2024. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa GAZA Armed, masked men in Gaza have started patrols to stop traders profiteering in Rafah, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are taking shelter from Israel's air and ground campaign, a member of the vigilante group said. The mounting death toll from Israel's military offensive on the Gaza Strip is a concrete, daily reality for Ibrahim Ahmed: instead of building houses as he did before the war, he digs graves. US POLITICS Mitch McConnell's decision to step aside as Senate Republican leader raises questions about whether the chamber long known for being slow and deliberative will be swept up in the heated populism of Donald Trump. Listen to Washington correspondent Richard Cowan on McConnell's legacy. An Illinois state judge barred Trump from appearing on the Illinois' Republican presidential primary ballot because of his role in the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. IN OTHER NEWS President Vladimir Putin warned Western countries that there was a genuine risk of nuclear war if they sent their own troops to fight in Ukraine, and he said Moscow had the weapons to strike targets in the West. In Russia signs of opposition still flicker despite the machinery of state working around the clock to snuff out any sign of dissent over the invasion of Ukraine and, more recently, the death in detention of leading dissident Navalny. Thailand will ban recreational use of marijuana by the end of this year but continue to allow its use for medical purposes, the health minister told Reuters in an interview. Here's what you need to know about Thailand's cannabis industry. The world likely notched its warmest February on record, as spring-like conditions caused flowers to bloom early from Japan to Mexico, left ski slopes bald of snow in Europe and pushed temperatures to 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Texas. Business & Markets Frenetic activity in bitcoin put it on course for its biggest monthly gain in more than three years and it is within range of a record high as cash rushing to listed bitcoin funds propels a sweeping rally. US Food and Drug Administration inspectors found problems with record keeping and quality controls for animal experiments at Elon Musk's Neuralink, less than a month after the startup said it was cleared to test its brain implants in humans, according to an agency report reviewed by Reuters. Inflation fell in six economically important German states in February, preliminary data showed, suggesting that national inflation is continuing on its downward trajectory. Chinese firms are stepping up hiring, with more jobs on offer as the country's recruiting season kicks off. However, wages remain sluggish as graduates compete for jobs. Lufthansa will likely miss its 2024 profit margin goal as the German airline seeks to agree new, higher pay deals to end prolonged strikes, which have forced it to cancel thousands of flights, analysts and investors say. Bayer may have to ask shareholders for fresh capital to shore up its finances even after the debt-laden German drugmaker slashed dividends last week in its latest effort to get wiggle room, analysts said. Subscribe to the Reuters Health Rounds newsletter to keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs, healthcare trends, pharmaceutical news. Norway gives Arctic foxes a helping hand amid climate woes A blue and a white Arctic fox are seen inside their enclosure at the station near Oppdal, Norway, March 21, 2023. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner One by one, the crate doors swing open and five Arctic foxes bound off into the snowy landscape.   In the wilds of southern Norway, the newly freed foxes could struggle to find enough to eat, as the impacts of climate change make the foxes' traditional rodent prey more scarce.   In Hardangervidda National Park, where the foxes have been released, there hasn't been a good lemming year since 2021, scientists say. Norway has been feeding arctic foxes for nearly 20 years And Finally... Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant, daughter of industrialist Viren Merchant, February 28, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer Charter jets for tycoons and celebrities, a performance by Rihanna and directions to don "jungle fever" outfits when visiting an animal rescue center - that's how Mukesh Ambani is kickstarting wedding celebrations for his son.   India Company News Editor Aditya Kalra tells the Reuters World News podcast about the party of the year. Ambani son's pre-wedding bash to feature Rihanna, tycoons and Bollywood stars Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters.com 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. Reuters Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement © 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036

Biden's Israel support draws backlash in Michigan

Google's CEO calls some Gemini AI responses "unacceptable".

Sign up for Reuters newsletters Daily Briefing Michigan's strong 'uncommitted' vote shows Israel's impact on Biden support, why US housing inflation relief may be short-lived, and Google is working to fix its AI bot.   Plus, China's Xian to give lottery tickets to newlyweds in a bid to spur births.   By Kate Turton Today's Top News Barbara McClorin inspects flags made at Valley Forge Flag's manufacturing facility. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo US POLITICS President Joe Biden easily won the Democratic presidential primary in Michigan, amid a protest vote by Democrats angry over his support for Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. Donald Trump won the state's Republican presidential primary by a large margin. Congress has three days to avert a partial government shutdown, as disagreements between the two parties and within the fractious House Republican majority delay lawmakers in their duty of funding federal agencies. Worries about political extremism or threats to democracy have emerged as a top concern for voters and an issue where Biden has a slight advantage over Trump ahead of the November election, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. IN OTHER NEWS French President Emmanuel Macron wanted to create "strategic ambiguity" by openly discussing the idea of sending Western troops to Ukraine. Listen to Europe Affairs Editor Andrew Gray discuss the reaction to Macron's comments. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich pledged to continue expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank, defying international pressure on Israel to stop building on land Palestinians see as the core of a future independent state. Some British lawmakers are ready to stand down amid fears for their safety after threats and abuse over Gaza. After the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza, more than 10 British politicians told Reuters.  Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's funeral service and burial will take place in Moscow on Friday, his spokesperson said, after a search for a hall to allow his supporters to bid farewell to him failed. North Korea's first spy satellite is "alive", a Netherlands-based space expert said, after detecting changes in its orbit that suggested Pyongyang was successfully controlling the spacecraft - although its capabilities remain unknown. Business & Markets US Federal Reserve officials say they are confident housing inflation will finally cool in coming months, a key and long-awaited component of their effort to control overall price increases and secure their turn to interest rate cuts. Country Garden said a liquidation petition has been filed against it for non-payment of a $205 million loan, clouding its debt revamp prospects and undermining Beijing's effort to restore confidence in the property sector. How bad are Country Garden's debt problems? Google is working to fix its Gemini AI tool, CEO Sundar Pichai told employees, saying some of the text and image responses generated by the model were "biased" and "completely unacceptable". Listen to Jeffrey Dastin on the Reuters World News podcast discuss the issues with Gemini.  Apple has canceled work on its electric car, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, a decade after the iPhone maker kicked off the project. The Federal Trade Commission's bid to block grocer Kroger's $25 billion acquisition of Albertsons could benefit Walmart, a rival whose close relationships with suppliers already gives it a price advantage over other chains. Toyota did not respond to a trade union's wage demands in a second round of pay talks, a senior union official said, keeping investors guessing about the outcome of closely-watched annual wage talks due to conclude on March 13. Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyer urged a judge to impose a lenient sentence for the FTX founder's conviction for stealing $8 billion from customers of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange. With handouts, piped water and cooking gas, India's Modi woos women voters Women at an event where the senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan was visiting, February 8, 2024. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis Living in a slum in central India with her widowed mother and two young daughters, Nayantara Gupta says she owes her relative prosperity in recent years to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party.   Gupta, a 28-year-old single mother, said she voted for the BJP in the last two general elections and plans to do the same in the next vote due by May, citing the party's focus on women's welfare, including cash handouts and domestic benefits such as piped water, 24/7 electricity and a cooking gas connection in her cramped home. Growing numbers of women voting for the BJP And Finally... A woman tries on a wedding dress at a booth at the China International Wedding Expo in Beijing June 5, 2010. REUTERS/Christina Hu/File Photo Authorities in China's city of Xian will spend 700,000 yuan on lottery tickets to give as prizes to newlyweds who present a marriage certificate, in an effort to encourage weddings at a time of fewer births.   With marriage rates closely tied to birth rates as unmarried mothers are often denied child-raising benefits, Xian promised a lottery ticket to any couple presenting a marriage certificate from March 1, as "a double surprise". China's Xian to give lottery tickets to newlyweds in bid to spur births. Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters.com 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. Reuters Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement © 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036