Putin wanted to 'wipe out' Prigozhin, says Lukashenko

Plus, "The Slaves Built That" - A Reuters Special Report.

View in Browser Sign up for Reuters newsletters Daily Briefing Alexander Lukashenko says he persuaded Putin not to "wipe out" Yevgeny Prigozhin, military sources say Islamists wield a hidden hand in the Sudan conflict, and South Koreans became a year or two younger.    Plus, a journalist excavated his family's historical links to slavery.   By Kate Turton Today's Top News Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin amid the group's pullout from the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo MUTINY FALLOUT RUMBLES ON Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he persuaded the Russian President not to "wipe out" Prigozhin, in response to what the Kremlin cast as a mutiny that pushed Russia towards civil war. Eastern European NATO countries warned that a move of Wagner's Russian mercenary troops to Belarus would create greater regional instability, but NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance is ready to defend itself against any threat. Military presence. Beer factories. Cheap vodka. The Reuters World News podcast takes a look inside the Wagner group's African business empire. AROUND THE WORLD Thousands of men who worked as intelligence operatives under former president Omar al-Bashir and have ties to his Islamist movement are fighting alongside the army in Sudan's war, three military sources and one intelligence source said, complicating efforts to end the bloodshed. Over $200 billion from the US government's COVID-19 relief programs were potentially stolen, a federal watchdog said, adding that the US Small Business Administration had weakened its controls in a rush to disburse the funds. A prolonged heat wave kept its grip on the US South as dangerously high temperatures rising well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit and oppressive humidity were on tap across a wide swath of the region through the holiday weekend. Protesters armed with fireworks clashed with riot police in a Paris suburb overnight after a 17-year-old was shot dead by police during a traffic stop and prosecutors opened a homicide investigation. One in seven people in the UK faced hunger last year because they did not have enough money, according to a report published by food bank charity the Trussell Trust. Business & Markets Annual profits at China's industrial firms extended a double-digit decline in the first five months as softening demand squeezed margins, reinforcing hopes of more policy support to bolster a stuttering post-COVID economic recovery. The Indian manufacturer of cough syrups that Uzbekistan said last year had poisoned 19 children used a toxic industrial-grade ingredient rather than the legitimate pharmaceutical version, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The US is considering new restrictions on exports of artificial intelligence chips to China, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. A blazing US stock market rally left shares of energy companies behind in the first six months of 2023 as faltering global growth sapped expectations of oil demand. Some contrarian investors are betting a second half rebound may be in the works. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni criticized the European Central Bank over its repeated interest rate hikes, saying it was following a "simplistic" approach that could do more harm than good. "The Slaves Built That": A Reuters journalist explores his ancestral ties In the wake of George Floyd's killing, protesters took to the streets across America. REUTERS/Photo illustration Special Report: Amid racial-justice protests, a Reuters journalist began exploring the ancestral ties to slavery of America's most powerful politicians. He also excavated his own family's history – which presented a more daunting challenge. Explore the specific ties to slavery among US elite Reparations: Where slavery's descendants stand Resources to explore your own family history And Finally... People walk near blooming cherry blossoms in Seoul, South Korea, April 2, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon/File Photo South Koreans became a year or two younger on Wednesday as new laws that require using only the international method of counting age took effect, replacing the country's traditional method.   Under the age system most commonly used in South Koreans' everyday life, people are deemed to be a year old at birth and a year is added every Jan. 1. Read more here: South Koreans become a year or two younger as traditional way of counting age scrapped Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. 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 © 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036

More than 100 US leaders have slaveholding ancestors

We look at the first part of the series Slavery's Descendants.

View in Browser Sign up for Reuters newsletters Daily Briefing How many members of America's political elite are direct descendants of people who were slaveholders? To answer that question, Reuters examined the family ancestries of more than 600 of the country's leading officeholders. Such an inquiry has never been done. The findings form the first of a multipart Special Report called Slavery's Descendants.   Plus, the aftermath of Prigozhin's mutiny and other top news stories from around the world.   By Edson Caldas Special Report Many lawmakers need look no further than their own family histories to find a personal connection to slavery in America. In researching the genealogies of America's political elite, a Reuters examination found that a fifth of the nation's lawmakers, living presidents, Supreme Court justices and governors are direct descendants of ancestors who enslaved Black people.   Among 536 members of the last sitting Congress, Reuters determined at least 100 descend from slaveholders. Those lawmakers from the 117th session of Congress are Democrats and Republicans alike. They include Republican senators Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Tom Cotton and James Lankford, and Democrats Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan.   In addition, President Joe Biden and every living former U.S. president – except Donald Trump – are direct descendants of slaveholders: Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and – through his white mother's side – Barack Obama. Trump's ancestors came to America after slavery was abolished.   Read the full Reuters Special Report here, including how politicians reacted to the findings. You can also see how Reuters researched and reported Slavery's Descendants and find resources for researching your ancestry.  Today's Top News Prigozhin leaves the headquarters of the Southern Military District amid the group's pullout from the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko WAGNER MUTINY AFTERMATH A jet linked to Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin arrived in Belarus from Russia earlier today, potentially carrying him to exile after he led an aborted mutiny against the Russian military. Prigozhin had said on Saturday he was going to Belarus under a deal brokered by its president, Alexander Lukashenko. The Reuters World News daily podcast looks at how the Russian infighting could impact the battlefield in Ukraine and the balance of power back home. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he let Saturday's aborted mutiny go on as long as it did to avoid bloodshed, while the Wagner mercenary group boss said he never intended to overthrow the government. AROUND THE WORLD The world lost an area of old-growth tropical rainforest the size of Switzerland last year, as deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon continued unabated, a forest monitoring project report said. Despite a recent global pledge to reach zero deforestation by 2030, tropical forest loss exceeded 2021 levels. New Zealand's Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said she had a "very robust" discussion during a meeting with her Chinese counterpart, as the leaders of the two countries prepare to meet. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is leading a delegation to Beijing that includes some of New Zealand's biggest companies. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has moved at lightning speed in his first month in office, implementing changes aimed at unleashing the full potential of Africa's sluggish economic giant. But while his rapid headway on reforms has wowed investors, some analysts and business leaders warn that bigger challenges await and question whether he is the man to take them on. Business & Markets Lordstown Motors filed for bankruptcy and put itself up for sale after the US electric truck manufacturer failed to resolve a dispute over a promised investment from Taiwan company Foxconn. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware and simultaneously took legal action against Foxconn. Former Audi boss Rupert Stadler was handed a suspended sentence of one year and nine months by a Munich court for fraud by negligence in the 2015 diesel scandal, becoming the first former Volkswagen board member to receive such a sentence. For more news on the industry, sign up for the Auto File newsletter. Starbucks plans to issue "clearer" centralized guidelines for in-store visual displays, according to an internal memo. The move comes after a union alleged that managers at dozens of Starbucks locations had prevented employees from putting up Pride-themed decor. The coffee giant disputes the allegations. As pandemic travel restrictions began to ease in 2021 tourists returning to Madrid discovered the its downtown had undergone a makeover. The facelift was part of the city's plan to attract five-star hotels as it pushes for a piece of the luxury tourism sector until now dominated in Europe by Paris, London and Milan. And Finally... Elton John performs at the Glastonbury Festival site in Somerset, Britain, June 25, 2023. REUTERS/Jason Cairnduff Call it Beyflation. Or maybe Swiftflation. The cost of certain goods is retreating in some places, but that doesn't include live music. Concert tickets have surged in price, to the point where economists are noticing. Fans are shelling out a fortune for tickets to see the world's biggest music acts, including names like Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen who haven't toured for years. Read more here: Popstars could be powering inflation as concert prices surge Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. 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 © 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036