Sharon Raish Garson

Rubio calls the findings, quote, troubling and says Washington has no reason to doubt them.

The joint analysis from Britain, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands says samples from Navalny's body conclusively showed the presence of the exotic toxin.

Moscow's dismissing the claim as a Western hoax, according to Russia's state news agency, TASS.

Over to Brazil now, where carnival is turning political, and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is right at the center of it.

A samba school in Rio has built its big parade around Lula's life story, but opposition parties say that looks like illegal early campaigning ahead of the October election.

Most of the complaints about the parade have already been thrown out by the courts.

One case, though, is still pending.

That election is expected to weigh on markets.

With one analyst warning, a Lula victory could be, quote, quite negative for prices.

To take a look at what's happening in global markets right now, check out our sister podcast, Reuters Morning Bid.

The link is in the pod description.

A textile factory near Moscow, producing curtains and bed linen.

Operating the sewing machines are people who've traveled thousands of miles to get the work.

Gaurav is one of an increasing number of workers from India and Sri Lanka, filling vacancies across Russia.

The choice of India for unskilled labor underlines the strong ties between the countries, as Andrew Osborne in Moscow explains.

Andrew says the war is taking a toll from pulling men to the front lines and into military factories to exposing demographic strains caused by the low birth rates of the 1990s.

Those strains, he says, also frame Russia's growing reliance on India.

We're going to leave Moscow there and turn now to New York, where Fashion Week is underway.

And that means crowded sidewalks, flashing cameras, as big names like Ralph Lauren, Carolina Herrera, and Michael Kors are pulling in packed rooms.

And younger designers are grabbing fresh attention, too.