U.S. and Iran give it another try

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Weekend Briefing

From Reuters Daily Briefing

By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor

Thanks for joining me this weekend. I recommend this story about the business empire of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and how they stand to gain if the U.S. and Iran reach a peace deal. Also: free soda refills and chicken wings dipped in ranch dressing are doing their best to make World Cup fans visiting the States worry less about visa worries and gun violence.

U.S. and Iran give it another try

REUTERS/Stringer

Connections: Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon will test the chances of any interim agreement to end the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran. Israel will keep forces in southern Lebanon, an official said, challenging the terms of the putative peace deal. Locals are returning to find their villages destroyed.
Segues: Hard work vaulting countless roadblocks went into getting the interim U.S.-Iran deal together, and there’s a lot more to accomplish to turn it into a permanent agreement. While its backers call it the deal of the century, Tehran’s adversaries say it’s a curse.

Signs point to Ebola’s rapid spread in Congo

Unprecedented death rate: At least 30 people have died in a camp for displaced civilians since the beginning of May. More than 70 medics in the Democratic Republic of Congo have caught the deadly virus. The World Health Organization lacks personnel, ambulances and construction supplies for building isolation wards.
Africa: Zimbabwe’s parliament voted to extend presidential terms from five to seven years, a move that benefits President Emmerson Mnangagwa, also known as the Crocodile. Lawmakers from more than a dozen countries said they would push for new legislation to restrict LGBT rights.

What happened to Meloni and Trump?

Love on the rocks: Donald Trump used to call her “a fantastic leader and person” and a “beautiful young woman.” Now ties have deteriorated. In their latest salvo, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni denied that she had begged the president for a photo of them together, leading Italy’s foreign minister to cancel a visit to the U.S.
Cad on the tracks: Prosecutors are investigating a WhatsApp group in which tram drivers in Milan exchanged comments on images of female passengers captured by onboard security cameras.

U.S. wants more power for AI data centers

Feed me: The federal energy regulator ordered electric-grid operators to consider new protocols to quickly connect large energy users such as artificial-intelligence data centers without raising costs and the risk of blackouts. It also said it would no longer automatically consider cumulative environmental impacts in its rulemaking.
I need you, the bots need you: AI will lead to labor shortages rather than replacing human workers, Jeff Bezos said. His remarks come as companies cut thousands of jobs while investing in AI. Space companies are talking with insurers about covering AI data centers on satellites orbiting the earth, a way to bypass earth’s power constraints.

‘They’re men, not robots’

Get off their backs: Turkey’s coach said harsh criticism of the team’s World Cup defeat at the hands of Australia is demoralizing younger players and that “they have been affected by how overboard some of the reactions have been.” Paraguay’s coach said much the same thing. “You can shoot at me but not at them.”
Heat and hops: TV ad presenters like them, but fans aren’t crazy about enforced hydration breaks during World Cup matches, despite the ridiculous heat in some of the venues. Tartan Army fans visiting from Scotland nearly emptied Boston of beer. “Do they ever sleep?” asked the general manager of the Sam Adams Tap Room. “Do they ever get tired?” And I love this story about the “translation cameras” that Philadelphia police are using during the matches.

Before I forget…

Elderly Britons in failing health who live in Spain are discovering the long-term costs of Brexit. So are their families.
Mongolia is putting most of its coal and many other minerals in China’s basket despite the risk of overdependence on one trading partner.
Thailand wants to create a corridor between two new deep-sea ports as an alternative to the Strait of Malacca. Logistics, irritated locals and the $30 billion estimated cost stand in the way.
Saudi Arabia’s Sindalah island luxury resort proved to be a real dog and has never opened to the public. They’re turning to another developer to fix it.
The oldest-known outbreak of plague occurred 5,500 years ago in the Lake Baikal region in Siberia. It especially targeted children and adolescents, scientists found.
How do you fly non-stop for 20 hours or more without losing your marbles? Qantas shows us how it took on the challenge ahead of its planned services from Sydney to London and New York.
Oh, how many times I’ve dreamed of being a giant deep-sea isopod which almost never gets to eat and is cool with that. What would you be if you had the chance?

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