Reuters World News - Election Day, 'Iraq First' and Shein sex dolls

Episode Date: November 4, 2025

It's Election Day in America and Trump's shadow hangs over votes in New Jersey, Virginia, New York City and California. Americans go to the polls on Day 35 of the shutdown, now tied for the longest period ever the U.S. has gone without budget funding. Listen to host Kim Vinnell with the latest. Plus, Iraq's prime minister talks his agenda, Shein bans sex dolls in France, and India's women’s cricket team is riding high after shattering the glass ceiling.  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, November 4th, today. Americans vote in elections seen as the first major test of Trump's second term. France takes on sheen over child-sized sex dolls. And India hopes a major cricket win for its national women's team will break taboos for the next generation of girls. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week.

It's Election Day in the US with big races from coast to coast. It's seen as the first gauge of voter sentiment since President Donald Trump assumed office in January, and it could tell us if his agenda is gaining traction or sparking backlash. Californians will decide whether to allow Democrats to draw up new maps ahead of next year's mid-term. If passed, that measure could offset moves by Texas earlier this year to add Republican seats to the U.S. House of Representatives. Candidates in the governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia are making their final pitches, and in the most high-profile race, New Yorkers will decide whether to give former governor Andrew Cuomo another shot at holding office or look to 34-year-old Democratic socialist Zoran Mamdani.

President Donald Trump has endorsed Cuomo for New York City mayor and threatened to restrict federal funds for the city if Mamdani wins, to which Mamdani had this to say. And too often we treat everything that comes out of Donald Trump's mouth as if it is already legal just by virtue of who is saying. And it is time to finally stand up to the bullies that make these threats. Polls closed tonight, and we'll have the last. latest results and analysis in tomorrow's show.

Today marks day 35 of the government shutdown, now officially tied for the longest in U.S. history, matching the record set back in January 2019. The impact continues to ripple across the country. More than 3.2 million airline passengers have faced delays or cancellations because of air traffic control staffing shortages. And the prolonged standoff has put food. food aid benefits for millions at risk. The Trump administration now says it will partially fund those benefits after two judges ruled contingency funds must be used. But many may be caught

short. The administration said in a court filing that some states would need weeks or even months to calculate and distribute the aid. And a Reuters exclusive, the internal watchdog for America's housing regulator has been fired. Joe Allen's removal comes at a time when that very agency is playing a role in President Trump's targeting of his perceived political enemies. Bill Poulter, the agency's director, bypassed Allen in order to pursue cases against New York Attorney General Leticia James and Fed Governor Lisa Cook. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A small group of demonstrators protest against Chinese fast-fashioned giant Sheehan in Paris. They're angry over Sheehan's sale of childlike sex dolls, a product which has also led to threats from French regulators to ban Sheen from the French market.

Politicians were already angry over the planned physical Sheean stores in France, saying rock-bottom prices are killing local retailers. European retail reporter Helen Reid has more. Clearly, the regulator, because of this most recent finding of the sex dolls, they're not letting up. And we've had a lot of changes in French government recently. There's been a lot of volatility. But there really seems to be a thread running through it that all politicians are sort of united on wanting to tighten controls on sheep. Sheehan. Sheehan says it removed the dolls as soon as it became aware of them.

But Helen says banned products often reappear on the site. This finding adds to kind of a drumbeat of such findings by French and European agencies of products sold on Sheehan's platform that do not comply with rules over, for example, product safety, intellectual property. And they say that Sheen is not quick enough at removing them, and that often when they're removed, they just appear again in a different guise. So that's a big concern from consumer authorities. Russia says it's advancing on the Ukrainian city of Pekrovsk, which could be a game changer.

If Russia takes it, Moscow gets a launch pad toward Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the biggest Ukrainian-held cities in Doorkovsk, Ukraine disputes Russian reports and says its forces are holding on. Build, baby, build. It's a Trump catchphrase, but one that Iraq's prime minister is echoing. Mohamed Shia al-Sudani is running against established political parties in his ruling coalition in Iraq's upcoming election. He's portraying himself as the builder-in-chief, but it comes at a cost. Reuters Timor Azari sat down with it.

So Iraq is a fundamentally changed place today, and you realize that as soon as you arrive at the airport, you'll just see construction everywhere. Buildings going up, new roads, new streets. And so things are moving forward. But there are questions about how sustainable all this is, given that Iraq depends more than 90% on oil for its revenues. So Iraq's prime minister is running on this Iraq first agenda, which is quite similar to Trump's America first agenda. And what that means is he doesn't want Iraq to be in the Iranian camp or the American camp. as he says, and he's tried to avoid that over the last three years of regional turmoil with the war in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and the spillover from that. But what we do see is that the Iraqi Prime Minister is really leaning into this U.S. relationship.

For the first time in years, massive energy deals are being given to U.S. companies, be that GE, Exxon, and incredibly, Iraq is also importing gas from the U.S. You really have to think about that 20 years after the U.S. invasion. There was all that talk about Iraq having oil and U.S. companies being interested in that, Iraq is now importing gas from the United States. Peru says it's decided to break off diplomatic relations with Mexico. After Peru's former Prime Minister, Betsy Chavez, hold up in the Mexican embassy in the country to request asylum. Chavez was facing criminal charges for her alleged role in former President Pedro Castillo's attempt to dissolve Congress in late 2020. Mexico's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In market news, Kimberly Clark is buying Tylenolmaker Kenview in a cash and stock deal worth nearly $49 billion.

Shares of Kimberly Clark dropped sharply after the Monday announcement. The deal has puzzled some investors as the Tylenol maker struggles with weak sales, lawsuits, and White House attacks linking its painkiller to autism. Cricket fans in India are continuing to celebrate the national women's team's historic World Cup win. Many are now hoping it becomes a watershed moment for the acceptance of women and girls being able to take up the sport. Royder's sports reporter Amman Chakarputti is in New Delhi. It's huge for India. I mean, you know, India is the world's most populous country with more than 1.4 billion population.

And it's effectively, it's a single sport nation. Everybody follows cricket. The impact of this World Cup victory is going to be huge, not just in India, but for entire South Asia. Because this is the first time a South Asian team has won the World Cup, and it will ignite probably million of dreams across South Asia. I mean, you know, in certain parts of India, girls are not really encouraged to play outdoor sports.

It's patriarchal society in several parts of the country. So we have this Indian player called Shafali Verma, and she used to, I mean, her the parents cut her hair short and she was disguised as a boy to be able to go and train with the boys. I mean, it's a huge, huge inspiration for all the young players, young girls. And for today's recommended read, how Trump's threat to strike Nigeria has caused another shakeup at the Pentagon. Several officials describe feeling whiplash as they try to understand the administration's priorities that have revived backburner issues like nuclear testing, democracy in Venezuela. and cocaine trafficking.

There's a link to that 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'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.