Reuters World News - Florida vaccines, North Korea, Africa map and Swift’s Super Bowl

Episode Date: September 4, 2025

* This podcast was updated to include details of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Senate testimony, the confirmation hearing of Stephen Miran, and the death of Giorgio Armani. Florida plans to end all state vaccine mandates, including for children. North Korea’s Kim Jong Un vows full support for Russia’s army. At least 15 people are dead after Lisbon’s historic funicular crashed. The African Union backs a campaign to ditch the 16th century Mercator map in favor of one that shows Africa’s true size. And it’s a ‘maybe’ for a Super Bowl halftime performance by Taylor Swift. 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, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faces blowback on Capitol Hill as the ripple effects of Florida's vaccine rollback come into focus. The African Union joins calls for the world map to accurately reflect the continent's true size. Trump's pick for the Federal Reserve Board faces tough questions in the Senate. Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani has died. And as the NFL season kicks off, we spot the summer. Taylor Swift may be named the Super Bowl halftime star. It's Thursday, September 4th. 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 Sharon Reich Garson in New Jersey. And I'm Kim Vennel in Wonganui, New Zealand. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., facing tough questions from senators on both sides of the aisle Thursday. at a hearing on Capitol Hill. His testimony comes a day after Florida announced it would end vaccine mandates

and follows an overhaul of a CDC vaccine's advisory panel. Every single day, there's been an action that endangers the health and wellness of American families. Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden attacking Kennedy's appointment of vaccine skeptics to replace the 17 experts that were fired. Robert Kennedy is elevated, conspiracy theorists, crackpots, and grifters to make life or death decisions about the health care of the American people. Kennedy agreed with praise for President Trump's efforts to ramp up vaccine development and distribution during the pandemic. He also used the CDC's handling of

COVID to justify his overhaul of the agency. CDC failed that responsibility miserably during COVID. They did not do their job. This was their job to keep us healthy. Senators weren't the only ones challenging Kennedy. A protester in a wheelchair was removed from the chamber. It takes over three months to get a part authorization. Senator Kennedy, do you know some people will die between those three off millions of people? While Republican senators are sharpening their criticism of RFK Jr., Democrats are calling for his resignation. And that call is echoed by more than 1,000 current and former health care employees. At the same time elsewhere in the U.S. Senate, Trump's new nominee for the Federal Reserve,

Stephen Myron, faced senators and questions on the central bank's independence. Reuters congressional correspondent Bo Erickson was in the room. Republican senators on the banking committee often boosted Myron's independent analysis and questioned previous actions by Democratic. administrations towards the central bank. But it was easy to see the skepticism on the faces of Senate Democrats, especially when Myron said he will only officially depart his White House economics position if he is nominated for a longer term in the future.

That's because his current nomination is for a short term of a few months. And if confirmed, Myron told senators in the interim he will take an unpaid leave of absence from the White House. iconic Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani has died at age 91. Armani led a fashion empire for five decades. He became a go-to for Hollywood stars looking to wow on the red carpet. His attention to detail and down-to-earth approach also had a major impact on how Americans dress. Family members and trusted colleagues will now run the business,

and while the funeral will be private, this weekend, Milan will have a funeral chamber where the public can pay their respects. This grainy conversation you hear is the moment China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin were heard on a hot mic discussing immortality and organ transplants. The pair were walking a red welcoming carpet at a summit in Beijing as they chatted through translators. Xi told Putin that while in the past, people rarely lived beyond 70.

Today at 70, you're still a child. Putin responds by talking about how human organs can be continuously transplanted and that you can even achieve immortality. At that same summit was North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, who vowed full support to Russia's army. Pyongyang has sent artillery ammunition and missiles, as well as thousands of soldiers to Russia to support it in its war against Ukraine. South Korea believes the North has plans to send thousands more.

Meanwhile, some 30 leaders are meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky today. On the agenda, future security guarantees for Kiev, if there's a ceasefire, and coaxing the US back to their efforts. Trump says he plans to hold talks about the war in Ukraine in the coming days. A major legal victory for Harvard. A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration unlawfully terminated over $2 billion in grants and that it can no longer cut off research funding to the Ivy League school. A White House spokesperson says the administration will appeal the ruling.

The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to fast track a hearing for the president's bid to keep sweeping global tariffs, which have been deemed mostly illegal. The court's new term starts in just over a month. It already has a bunch of other cases to hear which test the limits of Trump's presidential power, like his immigration crackdown and the firing of federal officials, among others. Here's legal reporter Andrew Chung. I don't think in modern U.S. history there has been another president who has asserted executive power to the degree that President Trump has since he returned to office. The Supreme Court has handed President Trump major wins on a preliminary basis.

They've let President Trump carry out his policies while the challenges to their legality play out in court. But now the question is, are they legal? Lisbon's iconic finicular has crashed, killing at least 15 people. Emergency spokesperson Tiago Augusto says there are several foreign surnames among the dead. The world map you're probably used to seeing is one in which Africa is actually shown as, much smaller than it is in reality. Now, the African Union is adding its voice to those calling for a change to a different map, one which shows Africa's true size.

Senegal-based reporter Ayending Bjor explains that Africa is actually big enough to fit the U.S., China, India, and most of Europe inside. I think there's a lot of people who don't feel like this is just a map, that this isn't just cartography, that it's perception. there are leaders across Africa who believe that when a map minimizes Africa, it breeds a false sense that the continent is marginal, despite it being the world's second largest area and home to over a billion people. So in the story that we wrote for Reuters, one regional leader told us that the Merk Hater carries a, quote, ideology of power and dominance, that we don't need to reproduce.

So in other words, if Africa looks smaller on a map, it gives a false narrative. that the continent is less significant, and this can have real-world consequences. Just a few weeks ago, I read an op-ed by a former advisor to Mozambique's Minister of Finance, and he argued that an accurate map could support stronger negotiation positions in trade. It could attract infrastructure investment and could position Africa as a unified economic block with a, quote, scale unmatched in the world. NFL season kicks off tonight with the Philadelphia Eagles playing the Dallas Cowboys. While there are plenty of storylines this season, the question on everybody's minds is whether or not Taylor Swift will headline this year's Super Bowl halftime show.

Sports reporter Rory Carroll has the details. She was on her fiancé Travis Kelsey's podcast recently where she talked about thinking about sourdough bread 60% of the time. February of Super Bowl will be the NFL 60th. It's played at the home of San Francisco 49ers. Who's mass dot is sourdose Sam. So connecting the dots here, it seems like she has been foreshadowing this to happen. The NFL, of course, would love to have her. She reaches women. That's not their typical audience, a younger female demographic, and she's putting out an album next month. And so it just seems that the stars of the line for her. Finally take the stage at really the biggest musical performance at the year. And for today's recommended read, back to baiting,

where after Kim Jong-un met with Putin, his staffers carefully wiped off all items he touched. Analysts say it's part of a set of measures to hide any clues about his health and to counter foreign spies. We'll drop a link to that story in today's podcast description. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app.

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