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Weekend Briefing

From Reuters Daily Briefing

By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor

Welcome back to the Reuters Weekend Briefing, where we feature the latest news from Ukraine, U.S. politics and all the manipulative fun you can get up to with artificial intelligence.

Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin poses with mercenaries "Biber" and "Dolik." Press service of "Concord"/Handout via REUTERS

The curious case of Yevgeny Prigozhin

Friends like these: The head of the Wagner mercenary group accused his client’s regular army of trying to blow up his men as they pulled out of Bakhmut in Ukraine. He also said prosecutors should investigate senior Russian defense officials for any crimes committed before or during Russia’s invasion. Reuters examines Prigozhin’s behavior and those whom it irritates.
Outcry: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ordered an audit of all Ukrainian air-raid shelters after the deaths of three people, including a 9-year-old girl, who were locked out on the street during a Russian attack. Ukraine fended off air attacks while Russian fighters said they were fighting Russian military forces on their side of the border. Zelenskiy made his case for Ukraine’s entry into NATO at a meeting in Moldova.

Trump and DeSantis trade insults

Profiles in umbrage: Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis made their cases for why Republicans should choose them to challenge Joe Biden in the next presidential election by denigrating one another. Trump saved his most piquant line for Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson: “Nobody knows who the hell he is.”
Do you know this man? If I told you that Jamie Dimon was seeking your vote for president, would the name mean something to you? What if Bill Ackman recommended him? Do you know who he is? Answers on a postcard.

Raise high the roof beam, carpenters

Suspension: While a U.S. default on its debt has been averted after congressional passage of a deal to lift the ceiling, the possibility of another credit-rating downgrade remains.
May not work as advertised: If you get food aid through SNAP, better watch out. The same is true if you work for the military-industrial complex. This analysis from a few days ago shows why many of the debt-ceiling deal’s savings are illusory.

Wildfires spread in eastern Canada

Both sides of the St. Lawrence: Wildfires forced 25,000 people in Nova Scotia from their homes, making it the province’s worst-ever fire season. Now 10,000 people have been forced to evacuate Sept-Îles in Québec. This is unusual for the east of the country, as Reuters explains.
Hot all over: Countries across Asia have been hit by extreme heat that toppled seasonal temperature records. China has been especially hard hit. And in the U.S., State Farm said it would stop selling new home-insurance policies in California because of the growing threat of wildfires.

First it does your homework, then it does you in

Extinction mitigation: Executives joined experts and professors in raising the "risk of extinction from AI," which they urged policymakers to equate with risks posed by pandemics and nuclear war.
Deepfake politics: Make Hillary Clinton endorse Ron DeSantis, make Joe Biden insult transgender people, make Anderson Cooper curse on TV. These are some of the ways that AI is being put to use during the U.S. presidential race.

Before I forget…

At least 261 people died in India's worst rail accident in over two decades after a passenger train went off the tracks and hit another one in the state of Odisha.

Replanting the Amazon could help save the world's climate. Here's why it's so hard to do.

Israel’s police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir once called the Jerusalem Gay Pride parade an abomination. On Thursday, he was on hand to keep order, and referred to homosexuals as his brothers. Marchers heckled him.

The presidents of Kosovo and Serbia held talks on resolving a political crisis that has spiraled into violence. Novak Djokovic weighed in.

The family of an 8-year-old Panamanian girl who died while in custody of the U.S. Border Patrol in Harlingen, Texas was repeatedly denied an ambulance, an investigation found.

Zimbabwe’s parliament outlawed criticism of the government ahead of presidential elections, offering up to 20 years in prison if anyone wants to try.

Find out why Russian dissident and prisoner Victor Navalny asked for a kangaroo, a beetle, a kimono and a balalaika. (He didn’t get them.)

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