Weekend Briefing From Reuters Daily Briefing By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor news from Rafah, pondering this week’s Stormy Daniels testimony and, on the World News podcast, offering you a second dose of cow cuddling - and bird flu.

 

Weekend Briefing From Reuters Daily Briefing

By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor Welcome to the Weekend Briefing. We’re watching for news from Rafah, pondering this week’s Stormy Daniels testimony and, on the World News podcast, offering you a second dose of cow cuddling - and bird flu.

REUTERS/Amir Cohen

The pause that does not refresh Israel's U.S. weapons: Washington made a fair bale of hay with its delay of one shipment of bombs to Israel, but billions of dollars of weaponry remains in place for delivery. The idea was to warn Israel against an invasion of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israelis would fight with their fingernails if necessary. Pro-Palestinian protesters in the U.S. weren't impressed either. As for hopes of a ceasefire? They appear to be going nowhere. And the General Assembly backed a Palestinian bid to become a full U.N. member. Such a move that would effectively recognize a Palestinian state. Developing: Israel told people in Rafah to evacuate and head to what it calls an expanded humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi, in a further indication that the military is pressing ahead with its plans for a ground attack. A military spokesperson also urged people in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza and 11 other neighborhoods to go immediately to the shelters west of Gaza City.

New U.S. tariffs target Chinese EVs, solar and medical supplies The art of the trade war: President Biden is set to announce new tariffs, including a major tax rise on imported electric vehicles. The announcement is likely to maintain existing tariffs on many Chinese goods set by the Trump administration, and comes after TikTok and ByteDance sued to block a U.S. law seeking to separate the social-media platform from its Chinese parent or risk a ban in the United States. Cru team: China spent the early part of this week in talks with France as President Emmanuel Macron sought more balanced trade with Europe, and while he plied Xi Jinping with fine comestibles in the Pyrenees, the Chinese president showed little sign of being ready to offer major concessions. Cognac makers’ shares rallied after China showed an “open attitude” toward EU brandy after accusing the bloc of dumping.

Satin pajamas and a spanking A trial and then some: Porn star Stormy Daniels packed her testimony at Donald Trump’s hush-money trial with details of the sexual encounter she said she had with the former president in 2006. Modesty and word count forbid me from typing more, but it’s all in the links. The trial over Trump’s payment to Daniels continues next week with former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, who got a warning from the judge to zip it before he testifies. In U.S. election news: A Michigan township clerk was charged with multiple felonies over efforts to prove Trump’s false claim that he lost the 2020 election due to fraud. Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said. House Republicans unveiled a bill to ban non-citizens from voting in federal elections, something that is already illegal and rarely occurs.

Russian attack on Kharkiv opens new Ukraine front The latest: The armored ground attack on Ukraine’s second-largest city opens a front in the northeastern part of the country. It is unclear whether Russia will develop the campaign. Ukraine is trying to bolster its stretched armed forces by nearly any means necessary, including an effort to make it legal for some convicts to enlist in the army and cracking down on draft dodgers. In India, police arrested four people on suspicion of luring young men to Russia with the promise of jobs or university places, only to dragoon them into fighting in Ukraine. Money better spent elsewhere? Anger at falling living standards is expected to dent support for mainstream parties in June’s European Parliament elections. "At some point you need to start thinking about the French before others," said Killiams Perron of Dunkirk, who argued that prioritizing domestic issues like affordable housing as prices for everything rise would be better than throwing money at Ukraine's war effort.

Before I forget:   Italy banned small planes used by charities to search for migrant boats in the Mediterranean from using airports on the islands of Sicily, Pantelleria and Lampedusa. One German charity called the move "an act of cowardice and cynicism" and defied the ban with a fresh takeoff.   Defense lawyers for Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladić, who is serving a life sentence for his role in the bloody 1992-95 war in Bosnia, want him released to Serbia on health grounds.   Northern Ireland's police force regularly obtained reporters' telephone billing data to find out if police officers were leaking information, lawyers representing two investigative journalists told a London tribunal.   Like a prayer: Turkey opened a Byzantine-era church to Muslim worshippers after it was used as a museum for more than 70 years. Critics said the move risked deepening religious rifts.   A gay drama and English teacher at a North Carolina Catholic school can't sue for discrimination after he was fired, a federal appeals court ruled.   "The best way to introduce the little ones": A firm managing bullfights at Seville's bullring will give free tickets to children under 8 years old. I take it most of you know what happens to the bulls.

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