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Daily Briefing

Ukraine claims its forces are still advancing around the edges of Bakhmut, Beijing rebukes Japan and Britain over 'anti-China' G7 summit, and Meta is hit with a record $1.3 billion fine.

Plus, Firebrand, the story of Henry VIII's sixth wife, premieres at Cannes.

By Kate Turton

Today's Top News

An aerial view shows destruction in the frontline town of Bakhmut, May 21, 2023. via 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

WAR IN UKRAINE

Ukraine said that its forces were still advancing around the edges of Bakhmut, aiming to encircle the ruined eastern city after Moscow congratulated the Wagner private army and Russian troops for capturing it. Scenes from the front lines of the battle for Bakhmut.
The transfer of F-16 jets to Ukraine would raise the question of NATO's role in the conflict and would not undermine Russia's military goals, senior Russian diplomats said. US President Joe Biden on Friday endorsed training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.
The founder of Russia's Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin said that Wagner forces will leave Bakhmut from May 25 until June 1. What next for the city? Europe Editor Rachel Armstrong tells the Reuters World News podcast the handover from Wagner to Russia's official military is unlikely to be easy.
The Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has been cut off from its external power supply and is relying on emergency generators to cool nuclear fuel and prevent a disaster.

IN OTHER NEWS

State-backed Chinese mouthpiece Global Times called the G7 an "anti-China workshop" on Monday, after Beijing summoned Japan's envoy and berated Britain in a fiery response to statements issued at the weekend G7 summit in Hiroshima.
China's foreign ministry urged the United States to have the right understanding of China, meet it halfway and bring bilateral relations back on track. Mao Ning, a ministry spokesperson, made the remarks in response to Biden suggesting that a shift in US-China relations could occur soon.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was due to receive an official mandate to try form a coalition government after falling short of an absolute majority win in Sunday's election. Mitsotakis' New Democracy party won 40.8% of the vote versus 20% for the leftist Syriza.
Air strikes and clashes between Sudan's warring factions could be heard in the capital Khartoum on Sunday, residents said, after a Saudi and US-brokered deal for a week-long ceasefire raised hopes of a pause in the five-week conflict.

Business & Markets

Meta was hit with a record 1.2 billion euro ($1.3 billion) fine by its lead privacy regulator in the European Union for its handling of user information and given five months to stop transferring users’ data to the United States.
As the race to develop more powerful artificial intelligence services like ChatGPT accelerates, some regulators are relying on old laws to control a technology that could upend the way societies and businesses operate.
As talks over raising the US government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling go down to the wire, Wall Street banks and asset managers have been preparing for the fallout from a potential default. Biden said he believes he has the legal right to invoke the 14th Amendment of the Constitution to raise the federal government's debt ceiling but does not have the time to do so.
The dollar was steady against the euro and yen on Monday, as US debt ceiling negotiations were set to resume and after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated he favors a meeting-by-meeting approach when it comes to future policy moves.
The Indian central bank's decision to withdraw its highest denomination currency note from circulation is likely to improve banking system liquidity, bringing down recently elevated short term rates, analysts and bankers said.

China's Micron ban revives US trade tensions, fuels Asian chip rally

A move by Beijing to bar US firm Micron from selling memory chips to key domestic industries has ramped up tensions in an ongoing trade spat with Washington and lifted shares of firms that could benefit from the move.

China's cyberspace regulator said that Micron, the biggest US memory chipmaker, had failed its network security review and that it would block operators of key infrastructure from buying from the company.

China's Micron ban revives US trade tensions, fuels Asian chip rally

And Finally...

Cast members attend the screening of the film "Firebrand" (Le jeu de la reine), Cannes, France, May 21, 2023. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

For Brazilian director Karim Ainouz the prospect of making a film about King Henry VIII's court was particularly exciting, partly because it focuses on Catherine Parr, the wife who survived Henry. Red carpet style at Cannes.

Read more here: 'Firebrand' puts spotlight on Henry VIII's sixth and final wife

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