Reuters World News - Flights, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Australia’s social media ban

Episode Date: November 12, 2025

Even as the end of the shutdown is in sight, it will be some time before U.S. flights are operating normally. One of President Trump’s top supporters in the House – Marjorie Taylor Greene – pushes back after he says she’s “lost her way.” And Australian teenagers will have to download their data and freeze their profiles or lose it all ahead of a world-first social media ban. 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 Vinell in Wanganui, New Zealand. It's Wednesday, November 12th, today. US lawmakers prepared a vote to end the government shutdown, but it could be some time before air travel chaos subsides. One of Trump's biggest supporters in the House pushes back. And Australia prepares to roll out the world-first social media ban for teens, with platforms now on board. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. After a 54-day break, House lawmakers are racing back to the Capitol for a vote later this afternoon, which could bring the longest U.S. government shutdown in history to a close. To get there, they're having to contend with continued congestion at the nation's airports,

With thousands of flights cancelled, some lawmakers carpooled, while Representative Derek Van Orden made the 16-hour drive from Wisconsin on his motorcycle. Once the funding bill passes, the US government could be fully functional within days. But, as transportation reporter David Shepardson explains, the return to normality may not be quite so quick in the skies. When the shutdown ends, hopefully late Wednesday, air travelers are not entirely out of the woods. It could be several days into the weekend before the FAA ends all the flight restrictions and the airlines completely recover from all the delays and cancellations they've been forced to make over the last few days.

You've got flight cruiser in the wrong place. It's not something that's going to snap out of overnight. And remember, the Secretary of Transportation, the FAA have said, they want to see the safety data go in the right direction. They want to be assured that controllers are showing up to work because we've had really serious staffing challenges over the last few days. The funding bill being voted on includes a clause that would let Republican senators sue for half a million dollars for damages related to the January 6th probe.

It would apply to eight lawmakers whose phone records were subpoenaed as part of the investigation into the 2021 capital riot. Democrats are calling it a taxpayer-funded payout. One last bit of shutdown news. The Supreme Court is allowing the Trump administration to continue withholding about $4 billion meant for the National Food Aid Program, known as SNAP. The ruling extends a pause on a previous court order

that required the government to fully fund the food program during the shutdown, a program which helps feed 42 million low-income Americans. Yeah, so I don't know what happened to Marjorie. She's a nice woman, but I don't know what happened. She's lost away, I think. President Trump this week commenting on Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green, whose longtime vocal support of Trump has recently turned critical. Green's spoken out against everything from the rollout of Trump's tariff. to the release of documentation related to Jeffrey Epstein. Our reporter Steve Holland at the White House

has been reporting on what the split means for the Republican Party. What she's saying is she's reflecting the values and views of her constituents in North Georgia. So there's some friction there. It's not a complete falling out between Trump and Marjorie Taylor Green, but he is puzzled by it. And what sort of behind-the-scenes conversations are going on, we don't really know, but if there's some close House vote, he's going to want her support, and that'll be the rub.

Whether Green's divergence from Trump represents a larger shift in the Republican Party is yet to be seen. Well, part of Trump's base of support are everyday Americans who work hard for a living and need to put food on the table by health care. They're facing some of the same problems as everyone else around the country in terms of items being affordable. And so that view is being reflected by some of these lawmakers. And it's something that Trump has been in kind of denial about, that there is an affordability crisis.

But we've got midterm elections coming up next November. Control of Congress will be at stake. So affordability, the economy, inflation, these are all huge issues for the months ahead. To markets now, and investment giant soft banks' shares are sharply down after selling off its stake in AI chipmaker invidia. The sale is fanning fears that the frenzy around artificial intelligence may have peaked, but SoftBank is using the sale proceeds to bankroll future AI investments. So is there an industry bubble? This week's Econ World podcast dives back into the debate. It's out later today. Here's a little snippet with host Carmel Crimmons and Mike Dolan, Reuters editor-at-large for

finance and markets, talking about how national security is boosting the case for AI investment. It's only been a few weeks since we took a look at the debate around an AI bubble in financial markets. Honestly, there's just so much more to discuss. But Europe's going to have to do this as well. And the building of data centers, it's not going to be one big European data center. There's going to be a data center in Germany. Right, because there are those national security issues. Of course. So that's kind of a bull case, actually, right? No matter what's happening in the U.S., more, this stuff has to be built over this side of the pond. Absolutely. And I think there's a global picture here.

Voting machines count final tallies in Baghdad as Iraq's parliamentary elections come to a close. The elections are a key test for Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and for public belief in the political system. Many disillusioned young voters see the elections as a vehicle for established parties to divide up the country's oil wealth. So turnout, currently at over 50%, is seen as key. Preliminary results are due to be announced within the next 48 hours with the final outcome expected next week. The United Nations is warning of mounting evidence that atrocities are unfolding in Sudan.

It comes after the rapid support forces, a paramilitary, took control of the city of Al-Fashah last month, which was the last stronghold of Sudanese government forces in the area. civilians who fled the city are reporting mass killings, systematic rape and the disappearance of children. Al-Fasha is also officially in famine, as well as another besieged city in the south. An RSF leader has previously told Reuters investigations are underway, but that reports of violations in Al-Fashir are exaggerated. Social media networks are about to send out a mass warning to Australian teenagers.

Download your photo. freeze your account or lose the lot. It's in preparation for a world-first ban on social media for under-16s that kicks in next month. And in a significant shift, after fighting the law for over a year, the big social media companies are now cooperating. Byron K in Sydney says the ban will be enforced in the first instance by using platforms existing algorithms. I'll make a pretty good guess about your age based on which accounts you follow. then which posts you engage with, then also the ages of the people who are your friends on that platform. What then happens is if somebody is close to the age range, say somebody's 17 years old, but they look a bit younger, they might get blocked.

And then it would direct them to go to one of these third-party age assurance providers. And these third-party providers, they will look at your face and guess how old you are based on your wrinkles and various other features. If that fails, ID documents could be used. Byron says social media companies who fought vehemently against this ban now have incentive to make this work. Since the outset, the platforms have said, this is going to be very unfair on young users. This is unnecessary because we already have very stringent controls

and safety controls for kids. And now that it's happening, they've had to really change their tune because they can fight it and face a $49.5 million fine, or they can go along with it. And for today's recommended read, if your loved one is after some new denim for the holidays, it might be best to clarify what kind of denim they're talking about before you commit. Levi's is leaning into high-end luxury with $300 jeans now in many stores. It's part of a push to attract more women

and tap into the fastest growing market, premium denim. We've put a link to that story in the 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.