Reuters World News - China tariffs, Gazans return and the war on the left

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, I'm Jonah Green in New York. It's Saturday, October 11th. Today, Palestinians return home as Israel and Hamas enter the first phase of a potential peace deal. Trump's shutdown layoffs begin as the president brings the might of the federal government and is clamped down on liberal organizations. France's prime minister is reinstated and what to expect from a weekend of global sports. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. In the wake of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, thousands of displaced Palestinians are returning home. A steady stream of people on foot, on motorbikes, and in cars have trekked over the ruins of Gaza to return to what's left of their abandoned homes.

Starting point is 00:01:07 Ali Rihon said, that it's an indescribable day, quote, the happiest of our lives. Today the war has ended. Many others expressed similar relief and a longing to return home now that fighting had ceased. With a ceasefire now in place, next comes the exchange of hostages, a potential victory lap for U.S. President Donald Trump, and more negotiations. And despite once calling the U.S. president a, quote, racist and a recipe for chaos, Hamas is now putting its trust in him to hold Israel to the deal. But Palestinian officials say the militant group knows it's a gamble and fear Israel could resume fighting once the hostages are released. Edmund Blair is our Middle East editor.

Starting point is 00:01:56 So the release of hostages needs to happen between now and Monday. Meanwhile, the Palestinians are still awaiting the full list of prisoners who will be handed over in exchange. We expect President Trump to head to the region, possibly on Sunday, and possibly to attend a signing ceremony in Egypt. Israeli police have suggested they are preparing for a visit on Monday, and Israel's Prime Minister has invited him to come and speak at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament. And Ed says that unlike previous deals, this open-ended agreement might be its saving grace. It's a partial deal. It's a first phase. It goes against the grain of what both sides were talking about before on previous ceasefires. Unlike in previous ceasefires, they have not said there will be a month or a number of days in which they have to reach a final deal. That's what really, in a sense, undid the deal that happened at the start of the year.

Starting point is 00:03:02 It reached that deadline and there was no final deal. President Trump has revived his trade war with Beijing, announcing an additional 100% tariffs on China's U.S.-bound exports and new export controls on critical software by November 1st. The move follows China's expanded rare earth element export controls, which Trump called shocking and a hostile order. U.S. President Donald Trump is following through on his threat to cut the federal workforce during the government shutdown. Trump saying the layoffs would be targeted at Democrats.

Starting point is 00:03:41 We'll announce the numbers over the next couple of days, but it'll be a lot of people, all because of the Democrats. Job cuts are underway across multiple government agencies. The New York Times reports dozens have been cut from the CDC. labor unions representing federal workers have sued to stop the layoffs, saying they would be illegal during a shutdown. A massive explosion at a munitions plant in rural Tennessee has left multiple people missing and feared dead. The blast leveled the building and was felt for miles.

Starting point is 00:04:17 The cause remains unknown. Officials say it could take time to confirm the full death toll. Just four days after Sebastian Le Corneux resigned as French Prime Minister, President Emmanuel Macron has named his replacement, and his name is Sebastian Le Cornoe. The reappointment, which has enraged opponents on both the far right and hard left, shows Macron is running out of options as France's political crisis deepens. The president is hoping Le Cornoe can secure enough support from a deeply divided parliament to pass a 2026 budget, which must be delivered by Monday.

Starting point is 00:04:57 Back in the U.S., President Trump is waging a war on left-wing groups that he claims, without evidence, are fueling domestic terror. In the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, the Trump administration is deploying agencies across all levels of government to crack down on liberal organizations. The effort is raising alarm among civil rights groups and democratic leaders over the use of executive power. White House correspondent Jeff Mason is one of our journalists who has been examining the lengths the government is going to to investigate these groups. Hey, Jeff, thanks for coming on. Hey, my pleasure, Joan. I'm good to be with you. So tell me about how they are enacting this clampdown exactly. Well, for starters, it's a broad clampdown, and they're enacting it by using sort of all of the elements or tools that they have in the federal government and making it.

Starting point is 00:05:55 in a multi-agency response. Those agencies include the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department, Treasury Department, IRS. And who is being targeted? I've been told that they don't necessarily have a target list,

Starting point is 00:06:11 and yet a White House official did share a list of organizations to just sort of inform our thinking. And among them are groups funded by George Soros, And President Trump mentioned George Soros by name in the Oval Office when I asked him. Another group that they are looking at is Act Blue, which is basically the Democratic Party's fundraising arm. What are some of the legal or ethical concerns here? Well, some of the ethical concerns and legal, I guess, you could say, that are being raised by opponents to what the president is doing,

Starting point is 00:06:51 is that this is going to be an affront against civil liberties and also the First Amendment and the right to protest, the right to exercise free speech. The other concern that people have raised is that the White House and the administration are so focused on what they are identifying as left-wing groups that they are not taking into account that right-wing groups have also been responsible for political violence. Congratulations to you, Maria. Oh, my God. A somewhat speechless Maria Corrina Machado

Starting point is 00:07:30 hears the news that she has won this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Oh, my God. Well, I have no words. The Venezuelan opposition leader later dedicated the award, in part to Trump for his, quote, decisive support of our cause. Trump, of course, had repeatedly insisted he deserved this year's peace prize. A White House spokesperson criticized the committee's decision,

Starting point is 00:07:57 but the president later said he was at least gratified by Machado's dedication. A very nice thing to do. I didn't say, then give it to me, though. I think she might have. She was very nice. And finally, we've got a busy weekend of sports ahead of us. It's those rare few weeks in the first. fall where we basically have baseball and football on TV all day. But there are big games happening

Starting point is 00:08:24 outside the U.S., as our global sports editor O'Shin Shine tells us. There's a truly romantic fairy tale brewing for the World Cup with Cape Verde, tiny little 600,000 West Africa archipelago on the cusp of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup in the United States for the very first time. They've got a squad drawn from all across Europe, really, the Netherlands, Portugal, France. In fact, their centrebackers from Ireland, and he almost missed his call-up because the invitation landed in his spam folder. The only step they've got ahead of them now is a home game against Oswatini, a win for them there, and they are expected to win. We'll see them qualify for the World Cup with the likes of Brazil, Argentina, Germany and France.

Starting point is 00:09:10 And for today's recommended read, our latest episode of On Assignment heads to the small Danish town of Collenborg, which pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk has turned into a booming industry town. We'll put a link in today's pod 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 favorite podcast player. 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 headline show.

Reuters World News - China tariffs, Gazans return and the war on the left

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