Reuters -Daily Briefing by Kate Turton - October 26, 2025 - Argentine voters give President Javier Milei's party a mandate with a victory in midterm legislative elections, while Trump gets a royal welcome in Japan as China trade truce hopes rise

 

Daily Briefing

By Kate Turton

Hello. Argentine voters give President Javier Milei's party a mandate with a victory in midterm legislative elections, while Trump gets a royal welcome in Japan as China trade truce hopes rise Plus, Europe's new space merger explores the FOMO frontier.

Today's Top News   Argentina's President Javier Milei gestures to a crowd in Buenos Aires. REUTERS/Cristina Sille Argentina Argentine President Javier Milei's party cruised to victory in midterm legislative elections as voters handed him a mandate to keep pushing through his radical overhaul of the economy despite widespread discontent with his deep austerity measures. Leila Miller tells the Reuters World News podcast that Milei's win means he has more power in Congress to block recent opposition attempts to override his vetoes. In other news US President Donald Trump said he hoped to add a trade deal with China to a slew of pacts he has already struck during a visit to Asia this week, as he arrived in Tokyo for a royal welcome. US President Donald Trump said he hoped to add a trade deal with China to a slew of pacts he has already struck during a visit to Asia this week, as he arrived in Tokyo for a royal welcome. Suspects have been arrested over the brazen jewellery heist at the Louvre, just as one of them was about to fly out of France, the Paris prosecutor said. Two men in their 30s and originally from the capital's Seine-Saint-Denis suburb were detained on Saturday evening. Russia has successfully tested its nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, a nuclear-capable weapon Moscow says can pierce any defence shield, and will move towards deploying the weapon, President Vladimir Putin said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would determine which foreign forces it would allow as part of a planned international force in Gaza to help secure a fragile ceasefire under Trump's plan. More than 8,000 flights were delayed across the US on Sunday as air traffic controller absences continued to disrupt travel and a federal government shutdown reached its 26th day. A US Navy helicopter and a fighter jet crashed separately into the South China Sea within the space of an hour during routine operations conducted from the same aircraft carrier, the US Navy said, adding all personnel were safe. Venezuela condemned what it said was a military provocation by neighboring Trinidad and Tobago in coordination with the US Central Intelligence Agency, aimed at spurring a full military confrontation with the Latin American nation.

Business & Markets   As America's tech titans report earnings this week, one question looms large: is the artificial intelligence boom that has inflated valuations headed for the next big bubble? Sign up for the Reuters Artificial Intelligencer newsletter. Federal Reserve policymakers are widely expected to reduce US short-term borrowing costs this week by a quarter of a percentage point for the second time this year as they look to prevent further slowing in the labor market.  Small importers for large US retailers rushed in China-made strollers and wares meant for spring and are storing the goods in their own warehouses to avoid the big tariff bills that had been threatened over the next month. Watch our daily rundown for more on global markets. As Chinese shoppers dip toes back in the luxury pool, brands are targeting economically resilient high-earners with distinctive, personalised experiences as their focus shifts more to market share than growth. Toyota said its worldwide production increased by more than 10% in September and rose for a fourth straight month, as both sales and output increased in the US, the Japanese automaker's top market. The world's first stablecoin pegged to the yen launched in Japan , a small but significant move in a country where many consumers still prefer to use traditional payment means like cash and credit cards.

Robot dogs and AI drone swarms: China could use DeepSeek for an era of war   Unitree robot dogs climb a flight of stairs during a demonstration to Reuters at a park in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo China's state-owned defense giant Norinco in February unveiled a military vehicle capable of autonomously conducting combat-support operations at 50 kilometres per hour. It was powered by DeepSeek, the company whose artificial intelligence model is the pride of China's tech sector. The Norinco P60’s release was touted by Communist Party officials in press statements as an early showcase of how Beijing is using DeepSeek and AI to catch up in its arms race with the United States, at a time when leaders in both countries have urged their militaries to prepare for conflict. Read more

And Finally... Engineers perform checks on Europe's new MTG-I1 satellite at the Thales Alenia Space plant in Cannes, France. REUTERS/Tim Hepher/File Photo  Driven to the brink by Elon Musk's SpaceX, Europe's biggest satellite firms are setting aside longtime rivalries in a do-or-die $7 billion merger that some insiders are already calling Project FOMO. Read more

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