Reuters World News - CDC, Minnesota shooting, DC crime, Kyiv and Tomatina

Episode Date: August 28, 2025

The CDC leader fired by the White House refuses to quit. A shooter kills two Minneapolis school children in a Catholic church. Federal agents take on local police work in Washington DC. A Russian overnight attack on Kyiv kills 10. And a river of red tomatoes as thousands of revellers in Spain take to the streets for the annual Tomatina. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Find the Recommended Read 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

Today, chaos at the CDC as its ousted leader refuses to quit. Reuters reporting shows federal agents are taking on local police work in Washington, D.C. A massive Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv kills at least 10. Envidia's earnings beat expectations but only just with China sales left out. And Australia explains how it traced anti-Semitic attacks back to Iran. It's Thursday, August 28th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. I'm Kim Vinal in Wanganui, New Zealand.

She's been in the job less than a month, and now the White House has fired Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Menares. Four other senior officials have stepped down as tension around vaccine policies and public health directives ramps up. A White House spokesman says Menares was not aligned with the president's agenda of making America healthy again. Her attorneys deny she has quit or been fired, adding that, quote, as a person of integrity and devoted to science, she will not resign. The Trump administration's attempt to oust Menares comes on the heels of his war with Fed Governor Lisa Cook, who he's also trying to remove. Sixth graders should not have to protect first graders.

should be doing that. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, speaking at a vigil following a school shooting which left two children dead and at least 17 wounded. The assailant, clad in black, fired dozens of rounds through the windows during mass at a Minneapolis Catholic school. First grader Clarissa Garcia describes that moment.

I was just at church and I heard something like really loud. I thought it was fireworks in the church. authorities have not offered a motive. Here's Minneapolis police chief, Brian O'Hara. The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible. The shooter, who took their own life at the back of the church, has been identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman. Court records showed they'd change their name from Robert to Robin in 2020, identifying as female. The FBI is investigating the case as an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics.

I need this many police for me. In Washington, D.C., homeless woman Megan Abraham is surrounded by police officers as she packs up her tent. It was very dehumanizing and demoralizing. Megan says the night before, a whole law enforcement team had visited. The FBI, Secret Service, NPD was out here. They came twice last night. Now, when President Donald Trump sent National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., he said it's to tackle violent crime.

But Reuters has reviewed more than 500 court cases since the agents were deployed. And as reporter Brad Heath explains, none of them involved someone being charged for a violent offense. We were able to identify 69 cases that involved the joint, local and federal task forces that the administration has been sending into Washington. About half of those were for pretty minor offences, misdemeanors, there were some traffic offenses, there were some marijuana consumption, things like that. What we saw was basically federal agents behaving like local police officers. And the mayor of D.C. said as much in a briefing today that more or less what you're seeing as a result of this federal surge is what you would be seeing if the district could hire 500 additional local police officers. The Trump administration says they've made more than a thousand arrests in the course of this surge, and that some are serious cases.

And in another move to increase federal control in Washington, the Trump administration says it's taking control of Union Station. The Transportation Department is planning to reclaim management of the rail hub, saying it can manage the property better. A large-scale overnight drone and missile attack by Russian forces has killed at least 10 and injured dozens in Kiev. City officials say search and rescue operations are ongoing as emergency services put out fires

and sift through the rubble of destroyed buildings. North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un will appear alongside Russia's Vladimir Putin next week in a gathering scene as a public show of defiance amid Western pressure. The two leaders are attending a military parade in China, marking the formal surrender of Japan, during World War II. No Western leaders will be among the 26 foreign heads of state and government attending, with the exception of Slovakia's Prime Minister. AI chip giant Nvidia's earnings beat expectations, but just barely, and that's disappointed investors used to blow out results.

Reuters' tech correspondent Stephen Nellis has more. There are several things going on with the forecast, which you can boil it all down to one word, which is China. Nvidia pointedly said that it did not include any expectations of sales to China in that forecast. Now, that's a little strange because the CEO of the company has said publicly that they expect to be able to continue to sell those chips to China now that the Trump administration has decided to allow it again. The problem is that this commission where Nvidia will pay 15% of sales to the U.S. government, the rules for how to do that and essentially where to send the check have not been written yet. Even says Nvidia's earnings also highlight how strong demand remains, even for less powerful products.

One thing that I think was especially notable is those chips that they sell to China, which are kind of a version of the chip that's been hobbled to make it less powerful in some respects, they actually sold those on the open market to people who have the option of buying other better Nvidia chip, and that's just a sign of how tight the market is. Denmark has summoned the top US diplomat in Copenhagen over reports alleging covert American influence operations in Greenland. Public broadcaster DR is reporting intelligence sources, say, at least three US citizens with ties to President Trump tried to stir opposition to Danish rule. Denmark's foreign minister calls the alleged actions completely unacceptable.

The US embassy hasn't commented. Iran's ambassador to Australia has departed the embassy in Canberra, having been expelled over claims Tehran orchestrated violent attacks in the country. And Australia says it has evidence. Here's Kirsty Needham in Sydney. It appears that the intelligence agencies were able to trace the funding trail from the petty criminals who were involved in setting fire to a synagogue in Melbourne and an attack on a kosher restaurant, they traced payments back through a series of intermediaries, local criminals, offshore criminals, and back to Iran.

Australia's Home Affairs Minister has said this week, it's unlikely that those on the ground with the jericho setting fire to the synagogue and involved in the attack on the restaurant knew who started it. The spy chief has said there were a series of cutouts or intermediaries between Iran and those on the ground. and they were being directed to perform different tasks. Earlier this year, federal police said that they were investigating

special digital encryption devices and whether or not criminals had been using cryptocurrency to throw investigators off the trail. Iran's foreign mystery said it absolutely rejects the Australian accusation. You know, she told me that I have no education, no class, and to see what happens if we play each other outside of the US, and I said, you know, I'm excited to bring it. U.S. tennis player Taylor Townsend speaking after a heated courtside exchange with Yelanah Osterpenko

at the U.S. Open. Townsend, who is black, went on to say only Osterpenko can explain whether there were racial undertones to the altercation. Townsend had just staged a comeback win when a tense handshake turned into a courtside argument. Osterpenko later said she was upset over a net ball call. That is the signal. for 22,000 people to start hurling tomatoes at one another during Spain's annual Tomatina.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the tomato throwing festival where trucks unload tons of overwired tomatoes for it's essentially an hour-long food fight. And for today's recommended read, a timeline of President Trump's moves to dismantle the US wind and solar energy industries since taking office in January. We'll put a link to that story in the podcast description.

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. If you were 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 headline show.