Proposed Hormuz deal would give Iran control of inbound traffic.

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Daily Briefing

Daily Briefing

By Kate Turton

Hello. A proposed Hormuz deal would give Iran control of inbound traffic, and Iran threatens to hit Gulf states if US launches new strikes.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia, Russia tries to sow panic with "safari" strikes on civilians.

Plus, at Trump's DOJ, watchdogs are being gutted as misconduct complaints soar.

Today's Top News

 

A drone view shows vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman. REUTERS/Stringer

War in Iran

  • A proposed deal between Iran and Oman to help end five months of war between Iran and the United States would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian source and two regional officials told ‌Reuters, one of the biggest concessions yet to Iran.
  • Iran has warned Gulf states that any new US attack on its territory would trigger retaliation against critical energy infrastructure across the region, according to five sources, as Tehran seeks to raise the cost of military action by threatening Washington's closest regional allies. Read our exclusive.
  • Five months into the US war with Iran, Americans who expect the Middle East to slide toward chaos outnumber those who see the war bringing more stability by three to one, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.

In other news

  • Abdul El-Sayed's victory in Michigan's Democratic US Senate primary sets up a high-profile test this fall of whether an unabashedly progressive candidate can prevail in a politically divided swing state — with control of the Senate potentially at stake.
  • In a rare show of bipartisanship, Democrats and Donald Trump's conservative supporters both blame the president's ties to the tech industry for his administration's limited response to recent hacks carried out by OpenAI and Anthropic's AI agents.
  • Congo has banned exports of copper concentrate and cobalt concentrate in a major escalation of its drive to force domestic processing ⁠and retain more value from its vast mineral resources, according to a new government order reviewed by Reuters.
  • Since the first weeks of their 2022 invasion, Moscow's forces have been dug in just south of Zaporizhzhia, hammering it with missiles and drones. But a new wave of attacks has made life deadlier for residents. They have adopted the term "safari" to describe drones "hunting down" civilians or vehicles in the street.
  • Spain's Ceuta, still reeling from a rush of 72,000 migrants arriving on its shores in one week, is seeking the transfer of hundreds of unaccompanied minors still in the ‌enclave to mainland Spain.
 

Business & Markets

 

Trucks at the construction site of the Google-Adani data centre in Tarluvada, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. REUTERS/Priyanshu Singh

  • Work to build Google's planned Indian data center hub is in full swing, with a hillside above the site stripped to red earth and terraced into steps. But mounting opposition from environmentalists is creating hurdles for the US tech ‌giant's $15 billion project.
  • Disney has struck a first-of-its-kind deal with TikTok, letting creators use characters and scenes from its vast library to make their own short-form videos. Correspondent Dawn Chmielewski tells the Reuters World News podcast why Hollywood's biggest studios are racing to embrace vertical video.
  • Four months ago, the Netherlands approved Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system and has since advocated for its adoption across the EU. But Dutch road regulator RDW won’t tell the public why it concluded the driver-assistance system is safe. Releasing such details would violate Tesla’s commercial secrets, echoing the automaker’s own demands on the regulator for confidentiality.
  • Many employees and early investors in SpaceX could seize a potentially irresistible opportunity to cash out on huge gains from the stock as the company's first share lockup expires, which could add fresh pressure on the stock amid its slump from its June high.
  • China's state-owned Sinopec Corp, the world's biggest refiner, has ramped up purchases of Far East Russian oil to compensate for Middle East supplies diminished by the Iran war, according to multiple trade sources and ship tracking data. 
 

At Trump's DOJ, watchdogs gutted as misconduct complaints soar

 

In one courtroom after another, federal judges have accused US President Donald Trump’s Justice Department of an extraordinary spate of misconduct, including making false statements, failing to comply with court orders and improperly using the legal system to harass political opponents.

Such rebukes might be expected to trigger a flurry of activity within the department’s two internal watchdogs tasked with policing the government's most powerful law-enforcement agency.

But shrinking staffs and fears of political retribution have largely sidelined the offices, limiting new investigations into the administration, according to Reuters interviews with four former DOJ staffers and a review of ‌department employment and investigations data.

Read more
 

And Finally...

Boats gather in the waters off Favignana, Italy. Favignana was used as a filming location for Christopher Nolan’s "The Odyssey". REUTERS/Igor Petyx

The tiny Italian Mediterranean island of Favignana hopes Christopher Nolan's blockbuster "The Odyssey" will help it attract more visitors but wants to avoid falling into the trap of overtourism.

Released last month, "The Odyssey" grossed more than $264 million worldwide on its opening weekend, the biggest debut of Nolan's career. The ‌film retells Homer's epic tale of Odysseus' journey home after the Trojan War.