Reuters World News - Biden’s Israel-Saudi gambit and Russia's ceasefire deal in backyard conflict

Episode Date: September 20, 2023

Ethnic Armenians in Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh agree to a Russian proposal for a ceasefire, 24 hours after a military offensive by Azerbaijan. Joe Biden’s speech before the UN General Assembly focused on China and Ukraine, but on the sidelines, he’s working on a deal to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Plus, Spain’s World Cup winning squad ends its boycott and how the auto worker strike could impact the race for the White House. 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

Today, Russia brokers a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karobach after 24 hours of artillery and drone strikes. President Biden addresses the UN General Assembly, while on the sidelines he works to broker an historic deal between Israel and the Saudis. And back home, the auto-worker strike risks becoming a major political headache. It's Wednesday, September 20th. This is Reuters' World News, with everything. you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Kim Vinal in London. We start in Nagorno-Karabakh, where Azerbaijan and separatist Armenian forces have agreed to a ceasefire, 24 hours after Azerbaijani forces launched a military offensive.

According to a statement released on Facebook, the agreement proposed by Russia means the separatist forces will disarm. Talks on the future of the region, which sits on Russia's doorstep, will be held on Thursday. Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, but part of it is run by separatist Armenian authorities who say it's their ancestral homeland. Azerbaijan sent in troops backed by artillery strikes into the area this week, killing dozens of people and raising the threat of a new war with Armenia. Now to breaking news around the world. Spain's World Cup winning squad have agreed to end their boycott of the national team

after the country's Football Federation said it would make immediate and profound changes. The players had refused to represent Spain after former Federation boss Luis Rubiales kissed player Jenny Hermoso on the lips during the World Cup presentation ceremony. Ford has avoided a walkout at its Canadian operations after reaching a last minute agreement with unions. Unifor, which represents about 5,600 Canadian auto workers, will now turn to getting deals with General Motors and Chrysler parents to Atlantis. House Republicans plan to hold their first impeachment inquiry hearing into Joe Biden next week. The House Oversight Committee is also poised to subpoena the bank records of the President's son

and brother, Hunter and James Biden. The Brazilian Navy says it seems. raised 3.6 metric tons of cocaine on a boat off its northeastern coast, a record hall of the drug. The Navy said it captured the small motorboat along with five crew members heading to Africa. It's time now for markets with Carmel. Krimmonds. Carmel, what's happening today? Well, investors are taking cover ahead of the Fed decision later on today. Higher oil prices are stoking fears about inflation and what that might mean for the Fed. We saw higher energy costs triggering a jump in Canadian inflation. But interestingly, it's a different story on this side of the Atlantic.

In the UK, a drop in hotel prices in airfares has actually offset the higher energy prices and actually fueled a surprise drop in the inflation rate. And that's changed the calculation for tomorrow's meeting of the Bank of England. Before this data came out, most investors expected the bank to be on course to raise rates for a 15th time. Now it's 50-50 as to whether or not they may actually hold steady. The United States seeks a more secure, more prosperous, more equitable world for all people. President Biden spoke before the General Assembly Tuesday. Our White House reporter Trevor Honeycutt watched the speech, so you don't have to.

Trevor, what stuck out to you in the president's address? So the big thing that stuck out to me was just the drama of the moment that we're in. If you allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure. And Biden having this moment to kind of express in front of Ukrainian President Volodemir Zelensky, as well as Russian leadership, Chinese leadership, that the United States is going to stay in the fight in the Ukraine for as long as it takes. We have to stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow.

So on China, first of all, it's really tied to Ukraine as well, because a lot of the messaging here is intended for countries in the Indo-Pacific that are really worried about China's rise and suspicious about how China wants to use its power and, of course, its claims over Taiwan, over the South and East China seas. And so Biden's message to China is that we won't accept violations of international law or the territorial sovereignty of other countries, but what we do want is to kind of thaw relations and we want to manage relations with China responsibly. We seek to responsibly manage the competition between our countries.

So it does not tip into conflict. And that's kind of consistent with their talking points before, but it's really important right now because there's a lot of turmoil in the Chinese government leadership and there's a possibility that Biden may be able to have his first talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time, since last year. As Biden makes his pitch to world leaders, behind closed doors, his administration is working

to broker a deal to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Biden is meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today on the sidelines of hunger. But what's at stake as he tries to get this deal done? Matt Spitalnik is covering the story. Well, there's going to be a price to be paid by the U.S. First of all, the main crux of it could be the demand by Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, for ironclad U.S. security safeguards for Saudi Arabia. There has been reports that this would entail a NATO-style agreement that would require the U.S. to come to this kingdom's defense if it is attacked.

Of course, in the U.S. Congress, there is some great deal of opposition to the Saudi government, as relates to the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi's campaign in Yemen, as well as its handling of oil prices. That would be a big prize for Nanyahu, right? The establishment of diplomatic relations with Riyadh would be one of those dreams come true for Israeli prime minister, helping to create a stronger bulwark against Iran, which is the mutual foe, as well as opening the way for greater Israeli integration into the broader middle. East. What are the benefits for Biden? That's a big question. It would be obviously a way to counter China's inroads in the Middle East, especially with Saudi Arabia and oil-producing Gulf

States. It would be a way to strengthen regional cooperation against Iran, bringing together our two most powerful military allies in the region. It could also help to further isolate Russian President Putin over his war in Ukraine, as far as oil output. and prices go. And in addition to all that, it's a nice big foreign policy win for Biden on the cusp of the U.S. presidential election campaign. Back at home, Biden is grappling with a labor dispute which could pose significant political danger for him. It's also a real dilemma for the man who described himself as... Most pro-union president in American history. You did. The United Auto Workers Strike is now in its sixth day.

and could soon spread to more auto plants. Nandita Bose is in Washington, D.C. Nandita, can you explain the kind of conundrum Biden is in as the White House struggles to navigate this? The Biden administration does not really have any legal authority to steer the strike discussions in one way or another. And so what they're trying to do is work on this from the sidelines by talking about offering aid to suppliers to workers

and really trying to figure out ways to mitigate any economic fallout from the strike. The president, of course, on Friday offered his full support to workers, said automakers should share their record profits fairly. Record corporate profits, which they have, should be shared by record contracts for the UAW. But his relationship with the UAW is not exactly what one would hope for for the most pro-union president ever. the UAW was quick to rebuke the support that the President Biden offered. So the UAW has basically asked any White House reps to stay away from Detroit. And now the strike has become a campaign issue as well.

The UAW has yet to endorse any presidential candidate for 2024. And that is telling a lot of the candidates that there is an opening. This is becoming a campaign issue because now we're talking about automakers, Detroit, electric cars. and this was sort of core to what the President Biden was going to talk about in terms of his accomplishments in swing states, but now they really can't do that. That's it for today's episode of Reuters World News. We'll be back on Thursday with our daily news show.

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