Reuters World News - China’s ICBMs, Greenland, Novo pill and Bolsonaro junior

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

China is likely to have loaded more than 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles across its latest three silo fields. U.S. President Donald Trump has doubled down on needing Greenland for national security and appointed a special envoy to lead the charge. FDA approves Novo Nordisk's weight-loss pill version of Wegovy. And Brazil’s Senator Flavio Bolsonaro tells Reuters what it will mean to have another Bolsonaro running for president.     Listen to Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. 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

Hi, I'm Kim Vinal in Wanganui, New Zealand. It's Tuesday, December 23rd. Today, China has loaded more than 100 ICBMs in silo fields. Trump doubles down on the need for a special Greenland envoy, and Bolsonaro's son tells Reuters his run for Brazil's presidency will moderate his father's legacy. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front in 10 minutes, seven days a week. Convierre your passion in a business with Shopify and bathe records of

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We begin your period of proof for a euro a month in Shopify.es bar records. We begin with two Reuters exclusives. First, our reporters have learned that despite President Trump's suggestion that a denuclearization pact with China may be on the cards, Beijing is instead advancing its weapons stockpile faster than any other nation. A Pentagon report seen by Reuters shows China likely loaded more than 100, intercontinental ballistic missiles or ICBMs in huge silo fields. Reporter Idris Ali has more.

It's public knowledge that the Chinese have built three sort of newish silos near the Mongolian border, but it was unclear what they were going to do with them. And what we've learned from this report is that they have actually deployed and put in 100 solid-fueled ICBMs, so that's intercontinental ballistic missiles in those. and it really highlights that China's not just building its sort of nuclear arsenal and nuclear infrastructure. It's actually making use of them and deploying assets on it. So I think it really speaks to the concrete steps and the practical impacts of China's growing military ambitions.

It very clearly actually says that China has no interest in nuclear arm controls and armed controls in general. President Trump has been pretty optimistic, at least verbally, about what China wants to do. and now, you know, an integral part of his own administration. The Pentagon is saying, wait, hold on. The evidence doesn't suggest that China actually wants to do this. And in the other exclusive, Reuters has learned that the U.S. is now conducting surveillance flights over Nigeria. They've been running since November after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to intervene militarily in Nigeria over what he says is a failure to stop violence targeting Christians.

Nigeria's government disputes that and says they have a complex security situation with armed groups that target Muslims too. And if you take a look at Greenland, you look up and down the coast, you have Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need it for national security. We have to have it. President Trump doubling down on the need for a special envoy to Greenland after appointing Louisiana governor, Chief Landry,

to the newly created role, a move which is reigniting diplomatic tensions. Trump says Landry came up with the idea of a special Greenland envoy himself. The governor posting on social media that his volunteer role is to help make Greenland a self-governing Danish territory part of the US. Danish foreign minister Lars Loka Rasmussen calls the appointment unacceptable. and says he'll summon the U.S. ambassador to Denmark for a sit-down.

White House reporter Jarrett Renshaw has more on why Trump may have been open to Landry from Louisiana taking up the role. There is some connective tissue between Greenland and the state of Louisiana. Critical Metals is the company that is out in Greenland mining, the biggest miner there, and the biggest reserve out there. And they have a relationship with a refiner in Louisiana where they're going to take those minerals that they dig up from the earth, get them into Louisiana, refine them and make them an end product for consumers in the U.S., military consumers, computers, tech companies. Previously, we reported that the U.S. government was going to take an equity stake in this critical metals company. And that drew some a lot of global attention because this is a company that's operating in Greenland and the U.S. was looking at taking stakes in that company, which obviously would have given them a broader foothold in the country of Greenland.

So as odd as it may seem, that that is a useful connection to understand maybe why Louisiana governor was tapped. Kilma Abrego, the Salvadorian migrant at the center of a wrongful deportation fight, has appeared in a Maryland court as a judge extended an order blocking Donald Trump's administration from taking him back into immigration custody. Abregor was deported to El Salvador in March despite a court ban,

then returned after a Supreme Court ruling. He's now facing human smuggling charges, which he denies. The Trump administration is tripling the cash incentive it's offering migrants to leave the US voluntarily. The stipend is now $3,000 plus a free flight home for people who sign up to go by the end of the year. The Department of Homeland Security is pitching it as a cheaper alternative to the $17,000. It costs to arrest and deport someone.

What appears to be a 60-minute report on a Salvadorian mega-prison housing U.S. deported migrants has spread online. A day after CBS pulled the segment prior to its scheduled broadcast, saying it needed additional reporting. It sparked accusations from inside 60 Minutes and on Capitol Hill that the network, owned by Paramount Skydance, was engaging in self-censorship under political pressure. On Monday, longtime Trump supporter Larry Ellison stepped in personally guarantee $40 billion

in Paramount Skydance's latest effort to pry Warner Brothers' discovery away from selling its assets to streaming giant net Netflix. In Brazil, the son of imprisoned former president Jaya Bolsonaro, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, has launched his own 2026 presidential bid. And in a sit-down interview with Reuters, he says he has his father's blessing. Flavio Bolsonaro is promising a more moderate legacy than his father's, saying he'll stare clear of right-wing culture wars,

but investors were still caught off guard. Reporter Luciana Magalyaez explains why. Most people in Brazil, especially people that supported Jai Bolsonaro, were not expecting that he was going to endorse his son. So this was surprising. Markets didn't, at least initially, didn't react well. He's trying to change things. he's trying to meet with investors.

He's trying to say that he's going to come with market-friendly policies. And not only he has to convince markets, but he has to convince the Brazilian voter that he is different from his father, especially the voters who don't want a Bolsonaro on the ballot. And he's going to have to convince some of his father's former allies or current allies. And I think he remains to be seen whether or not he's going to succeed. Also, the current president, Luis Anasio Lula da Silva, has been doing well in polls.

So this is going to be a difficult battle for him. The USDA has approved Novo Nordisk's weight loss pill, giving the Danish drug maker a leg up in the race to market a pill version of the popular injectables. For more on how that's impacting the markets, here's MorningBids, Dara Rangessinger. Hi, Kim. So, yes, great day for Novo Nordisk. It shares are rallied after that news in the US. It's Frankfurt listed shares have risen 10% in Europe. So what we've seen with Novo Nordisk, it hasn't had a great year. Its shares have fallen 50%. So good news for one of Europe's biggest, biggest companies.

And the other thing to say about this news is that it really adds to that festive chair in markets and gives a sense of a Santa Rally now taking shape. Thanks, Dara. Listen to Morning Bit wherever you get your podcasts. And for today's recommended read, the South Africans who say they were scammed into joining Russia's war in Ukraine. We follow the story of a man who says he signed up for VIP bodyguard training in Russia, only to be shipped to dig trenches for the war in Ukraine.

You can read more by following the link in the 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 favourite 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.