Plus, the FBI's new partnerships with Russia and China.

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Daily Briefing

Daily Briefing

By Kate Turton

Hello. The US is forging unprecedented law enforcement ties with China and Russia under FBI director Kash Patel, a piece of SpaceX rocket is believed to have crashed into the moon and a North Korean missile unit deploys in Russia for strikes against Ukraine.

Plus, a mountain flower from China joins the world's carnivorous plant club.

Today's Top News

 

Firefighters work at a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, August 5, 2026. REUTERS/Anatolii Stepanov

  • Russian strikes around Ukraine's capital of Kyiv killed at least 17 people and destroyed warehouses ‌and logistics centers of major retailers, Ukrainian officials said.
  • A North Korean missile unit has begun deploying to western Russia and could be equipped with 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers for strikes against Ukraine, an official at Ukraine's military intelligence agency said.
  • From discussing the merits of various pub snacks to making fun of his own appearance, Britain's new prime minister is taking on populist parties on social media platforms where they have built a huge following.
  • Last week's rush of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta began with a trickle. Encouraged by a handful of viral videos, the movement of a few dozen youths quickly turned into ‌tens of thousands swimming en masse. North Africa Bureau Chief Alexander Dziadosz tells the Reuters World News podcast how misinformation helped fuel the crisis.
  • Taiwan began major military drills to test commanders' ability to fight on the fly when enemy movements defy expectations, while temporarily limiting internet access ‌for the first time, senior Taiwan officials said.
  • A SpaceX rocket piece floating in space since last ‌year was expected to have smashed into the moon at high speed, though the impact is unlikely to be confirmed for at least several hours.
  •  A 37-year-old man appeared in court in Spokane, Washington, after being charged with starting one of three fires that have destroyed over 700 houses and other buildings and forced 64,000 people to evacuate the city.
 

Business & Markets

 
  • SpaceX touted faster-than-expected returns from its AI spending on its first-ever earnings call as a public company. But investors remained concerned about how long its profitable ‌Starlink business could continue to bankroll costly investments in data centers and Nvidia chips.
  • An AI agent was caught creating fake online identities to gain unauthorized access to secure systems during tests of models from OpenAI and Anthropic ‌which revealed a series of new breaches, Britain's AI Security Institute disclosed.
  • The AI boom was widely expected to favour the new companies building the models. Recent earnings suggest it ‌is some of Europe's biggest, well-established technology groups that are emerging as AI beneficiaries.
  • Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are evaluating chipmaking equipment from China's Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment (AMEC) for possible use at their Chinese factories, as the South Korean firms hedge against the risk of tighter US export ‌controls.
  • Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar is under pressure to restore confidence ‌in the drugmaker's longer-term growth prospects after an upgraded 2026 outlook failed to reassure markets.
 

FBI Under Patel Forges Unprecedented Law Enforcement Ties With China, Russia

 

FBI Director Kash Patel on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper/ File Photo

FBI Director Kash Patel says he has forged new law enforcement partnerships with China and Russia, two longtime US rivals, over the past year in hopes of gaining allies in combating transnational crime including fentanyl, cyber fraud and child sexual exploitation.

The partnerships have involved personnel exchanges in which Chinese law enforcement officials have visited the United States and FBI agents have traveled to China to work on cases together and share intelligence. Separately, FBI and Chinese officers have carried out joint raids and arrests under the arrangement.

Read our exclusive
 

And Finally...

Sticky glandular hairs on the plant species Saxifraga candelabrum are shown trapping insect prey, at Wufeng Mountain, China. Xian-Han Huang/Handout via REUTERS

For most insects, a flowering alpine plant might seem an unlikely predator. But researchers have discovered that a delicate wildflower that grows in rocky mountain crevices in southwestern China lures prey onto sticky hairs, digests their bodies and absorbs the nutrients left behind. It is the first confirmed carnivorous plant in its ‌botanical grouping.