Reuters World News - Russia's 'human safari', Disney-TikTok deal and SpaceX lockup

Episode Date: August 6, 2026

Ukraine accuses Russia of a war crime after a so-called "human safari" attack in the city of Kherson. Disney strikes a first-of-its-kind deal with TikTok, letting creators use its iconic characters to make short-form videos. And SpaceX investors brace for another share price hit as insiders get their first chance to cash out with the expiry of a lockup agreement. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, I'm Elena Kassas in London. It's Thursday, August 6th. Today, Ukraine accuses Russia of a war crime after a drone hunts down a vegetable cellar in Khrsen. Disney makes a first of its kind deal with TikTok letting creators use its iconic characters to make videos. And SpaceX braces for a further stock tumble as insiders get the chance to cash in, while a piece of one of its rockets crashes into the moon. This is Reuters World News. bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. Ukraine is accusing Russia of committing a war crime after this video went viral. A drone chases a man selling vegetables in Kersen, circles his market stand and then explodes as he dives for cover. Police say the vendor, a man in his 50s, has survived, but suffered shock and shrapnel injuries.

Reporter Max Hunter is in Kiev and says this kind of attack is nothing new. understand about this city is that the Russian forces are on the other side of the river. And what that means is Russian drone pilots can just hit this city that used to be home to, I think, about 300,000 people before the war. Attacks on civilians there are extremely commonplace. And what we saw with the market vendor was just a particularly gruesome and, I think, visually striking example. It just was caught on camera, but really these incidents happen every day.

And Max says these drones now pose dangers well beyond the border city. These cities that are maybe 15 or 20 kilometers away from the front line, they're now starting to also be attacked by small drones. And so this danger of the so-called human safari is actually expanding to more and more frontline Ukrainian cities that were previously considered to be out of reach for this kind of thing. Russia denies targeting civilians in the war. Russia's Defence Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the incident. A proposed deal between Iran and Oman could offer a way out of five months of war between Tehran and Washington,

but it would come with a major concession. The plan would give Iran control over the ships entering the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz. That's according to multiple sources. There's been no immediate U.S. comment on the proposal, but American officials have repeatedly said they will not allow Tehran to control the strait. And Iran is warning its Gulf neighbors that any new U.S. strikes on Iranian territory could trigger retaliation across the region. The message comes after recent threats by President Donald Trump to target Iran's energy network. Tehran is urging Gulf allies, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, to use their influence in Washington to push the United States back towards deployment. According to sources, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has urged Trump to hold off on military action and give negotiations more time.

As diplomatic tensions rise, a new Reuters-Ipsos poll shows that Americans are increasingly skeptical that continued military action will make the Middle East safer. They're also growing more concerned about the economic and political fallout of the conflict at home. Half of respondents say U.S. military action will make the region less stable, while just 17% expect more stability. Nearly six in ten say gasoline prices are likely to rise further as disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz squeeze oil flows. When people aren't even paying attention to an election, but are paying attention to the price of gas and the price of groceries and the price of housing and the price of health care,

that you can build a conversation that builds into a movement that defeats Goliath. That's Abdulaz Sayed, celebrating his win to become the Democratic nominee in Michigan's Senate race. The 41-year-old public health official is, running a progressive grassroots campaign, focused on health care, the economy, and an end to unconditional military aid to Israel. He wasted no time reaching across the divide. My commitment to Jewish safety is the same commitment that I have

to the safety of my own daughters. Republicans immediately went on the offence with President Trump calling the result great news for the GOP. El Sayad will face Republican former congressman Mike Rogers in November in a race considered a must win for Democrats hoping to retake the Senate. New Mexico is suing the US Department of Justice to gain access to unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files. It's arguing that federal officials are hampering a state investigation into alleged crimes at Epstein's Zorro Ranch. The Justice Department says it has provided some files,

but maintains that privacy laws and court orders bar it from releasing victim-identifying information. BASX shares fell around 12% yesterday, dropping below their $135 IPO price following the company's first ever earnings report. Investors remain concerned about how long the company's Starlink business can bankroll costly investments in AI. Today, insiders who bought stakes in the company months or years before it went public in June get their first chance to cash out as the company's share lockup expires. Many of them are sitting on massive gains and brokers expect a rush to realise those profit. Be sure to follow us.

sister podcast morning bid for more markets news, available wherever you get your podcasts. And while SpaceX's stock dips, a school bus-sized piece of one of its rockets has smashed into the moon, travelling at more than 5,000 miles per hour. The four-ton piece of debris was left over from a lunar lander mission. SpaceX says the impact was unintentional and it's discussing ways to prevent future lunar crashes with NASA. Cambridge astronomer Dr Matt Bothwell says the incident, while harmless, highlights a growing issue in near-Earth orbit.

There are all these mega constellations like Starlink going up. It could feasibly be within a few decades, that it's actually quite hard to get past Earth orbit because space is so crowded. Disney and TikTok have struck a deal allowing TikTok creators to use characters and scenes from Disney properties to create their own short-form videos. It's the first deal of its kind

between the app and a traditional media company, a curated selection of clips from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and other brands will be available on TikTok and some of the TikTok videos created will appear on the Disney Plus streaming service. It's also the first time TikTok videos will be shown on another platform. And as our Business of Entertainment reporter,

Dawn Shumuliski explains, the deal is an embrace of social video content by the traditional media giant. Disney will allow TikTokers who are fans of Disney to begin using its characters and video in their TikTok videos, which will be distributed not just on TikTok,

but also on Disney Plus, which has a new category of vertical video called VIRTS. Disney is, like other studios in Hollywood, trying to capitalize on the consumer interest in vertical video. We've seen other media companies experiment with vertical video because they know consumers are looking for something to, you know, these little bursts of entertainment on their phones while they're out in the world. A Mexican social media influencer has been shot dead while live streaming in the city of Kuliakhan.

24-year-old Cesar Gastilum, known for comedy videos on TikTok, had more than half a million followers. Authorities say two people on a motorcycle approached Gastilum and his friends outside a fast food restaurant Tuesday night. In a recording of the line stream reviewed by Reuters, the driver appears to open fire directly at him. The attack follows the May 2025 shooting of beauty influencer Valeria Marquez, who was killed during a TikTok live stream at a salon in Halisco State. President Claudia Scheinbaum says authorities are investigating the killing. FIFA has apologized to members for mistakes made over its abandoned proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup but reaffirmed its support for President Gianni Infantino.

A crisis meeting of senior executives was held in Morocco after several member nations withdrew support for Infantino's re-election next year. FIFA has promised a review and says the process should have been handled differently. A UCLA research lab is turning to an unlikely platform to save one of the world's longest running mammal studies. OnlyFans, the website known for adult content creators. The lab has launched an account called Only Moms, which grad student Emily Renke says posts up close and personal videos of their subjects, marmots. I have gotten some really good videos of other animals and I feel like I can't try. share them because it's only marms. People aren't here for the, you know, badgers or the foxes or other things that were catching on the game cameras. The Marmot Project has tracked yellow-bellied

marmots continuously since 1962, making it the second oldest study of its kind in the world behind only Jane Goodall's chimpanzee research. The lab was pushed to find alternative funding after rejected grant renewal proposals. UCLA professor Daniel Blumstein says the account was nearly blocked by only fans' age verification because the profile photo was a marmot, not a person. This is a novel way of getting money to support scientific research, and these are marmits. The page has raised roughly $6,000 so far. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favourite podcast player, and if you're listening on a smart

speaker, just ask for the latest news from Reuters seven days a week. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily show.