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Daily Briefing

Moscow claims Ukraine shelling killed five, the US House is set to vote on the debt ceiling suspension, and Unilever pivots to African suppliers as forex pressure mounts.

Plus, our best photos from the month of May.

By Kate Turton

Today's Top News

Destroyed vehicles following what was said to be Ukrainian forces' shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the town of Shebekino in this handout image released May 31, 2023. Vyacheslav Gladkov via Telegram/Handout via REUTERS

RUSSIA/UKRAINE

Ukrainian shelling killed five people in a village in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, Moscow-installed officials said, while a drone attack caused a fire at an oil refinery in southern Russia.
Washington is encouraging Kyiv by publicly ignoring the drone attack that struck several districts of Moscow, Russia's envoy to the United States said, after President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for the strikes.
Reuters Special Report: The meat magnate who pushed Putin's agenda in Germany.

ELSEWHERE

Legislation brokered by President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy to lift the $31.4 trillion US debt ceiling and achieve new federal spending cuts passed an important hurdle, advancing to the full House of Representatives for debate and an expected vote on Wednesday.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stepped up his attacks on Republican rival Donald Trump as he kicked off his first campaign swing as a presidential candidate in Iowa. While DeSantis rarely alluded to Trump during remarks at an evening rally, he showed less restraint afterward when taking media questions.
Former State Department and nuclear regulatory officials urged the US Energy Department to reconsider a plan to use bomb-grade uranium in a nuclear power experiment, saying that its use could encourage such tests in other countries.
The Qatari Prime Minister held secret talks with the supreme leader of the Taliban this month on resolving tension with the international community, a source briefed on the meeting said. Listen to Reuters' Jonathan Landay unpack what it all means on the World News Podcast.
US peacekeepers guarded a municipal hall in a northern Kosovo town as protestors held a Serbian flag outside, in an ethnically divided area where days of unrest have prompted NATO to send additional troops.
Sudan's army suspended talks with a rival paramilitary force over a ceasefire and about enabling humanitarian access, a Sudanese diplomatic source said, raising fears of fresh bloodshed in the more than six-week-old conflict.

Business & Markets

Credit Suisse has scrapped plans to set up a locally incorporated bank in China to sidestep a potential regulatory conflict arising from its merger with UBS according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said the US and China need to have "real engagement", during his first visit to China since his 2021 comment about the bank outlasting China's ruling party sparked uproar.
For the ambitious Chinese tech entrepreneur, expanding into the US just keeps getting harder. Amid escalating US-Sino trade tensions, some Chinese firms began setting up headquarters overseas.
US retailer Target's decision to remove some LGBTQ-themed merchandise after customer backlash in its stores highlights the problem with companies' "rainbow capitalism," said Erik Carnell, a transgender designer whose products were pulled from its stores.
Turkey's lira tumbled to a fresh record low against the dollar as President Tayyip Erdogan prepared to decide the shape of his new cabinet and the direction of economic policy after an election triumph.

Unilever pivots to African suppliers as forex pressure mounts

A farmer holds harvested cassava on a farm in Oyo, Nigeria May 18, 2023. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja

Busari Kasali once lived with the fear that his cassava - a staple crop in his native Nigeria - would spoil before it got to market. Today, the 76-year-old says his main concern is keeping up with growing demand from consumer goods giant Unilever.

"Things have changed," Kasali said, as his workers loaded trucks with a bumper harvest of the starchy roots destined for processing into toothpaste. He said his earnings have nearly tripled in the past two years.

Read more here: Unilever pivots to African suppliers as forex pressure mounts

And finally...

A vendor pushes his cycle with toys while looking for customers, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 23. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

From the coronation of Britain’s King Charles and the Cannes Film Festival to the ongoing war in Ukraine, these are some the most memorable pictures of the past month.

Pictures of the month: May

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