Reuters World News - Georgia threats, Canada’s wildfires, World Cup fever and what we know about Ukraine's gains

Episode Date: August 18, 2023

Ukraine claims gains in its counteroffensive – how significant are they? A whole Canadian city is ordered to evacuate as wildfires rage. And the countdown to the women’s soccer World Cup final �� will it be England or Spain? Plus, the spectre of failed property giant Evergrande looms of China’s economic gloom. 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, Russia shoots down another drone in the heart of Moscow as Ukraine claims a counter-offensive win. The specter of property giant Evergrand hangs over China's flailing economy. 20,000 residents of Canada's Yellowknife have until noon to evacuate a wildfire. And fans gear up for the Women's World Cup final after a tournament of shocks. It's Friday, August 18th. This is Reuters World News, with everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes. Every weekday. I'm Kim Vennel in London.

We start with the headlines making news around the world. Russian officials say a Ukrainian drone has smashed into a building in central Moscow. Russian air defences shot it down, disrupting all airport traffic in the capital. Reuters images show emergency workers inspecting a damaged roof of a building. about three miles away from the Kremlin. Russia has blamed several drone attacks on Ukraine, but Kyiv is yet to comment. In the United States, authorities are investigating threats

made against the Georgia grand jury members who indicted Donald Trump and 18 of his advisors. The names and addresses of the grand jury were posted online, along with those of two NBC reporters who covered the indictment. The head of Maui's emergency, management has resigned. The sudden departure of county emergency management administrator, Raman Andeya, comes the day after he defended not using outdoor alert sirens. A statement from the Maui County mayor cited health reasons. Police in Pakistan have arrested

two Christians under the country's blasphemy laws, accusing them of desecrating the Quran. The arrests come after an angry Muslim mob attacked a Christian. community, setting fire to churches and homes. Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan. Taiwan's vice president has returned home after a controversial visit to the United States. Beijing has condemned the trip by Vice President William Lai, and Taiwanese officials warn it could prompt more Chinese military drills near the island. On markets this morning, more signs that anxiety is growing over China's property crisis and

weakening economy. Embattled property developer Evergrant has filed for protection from creditors in a U.S. bankruptcy court. Evergrand sought protection under a Chapter 15 rule that shields foreign companies undergoing restructuring from creditors that hope to tie up assets in the U.S. It puts an exclamation point on a torrid week for the real estate sector, and all eyes are now on authorities to come to the rescue with bold stimulus. has claimed new gains in its counter-offensive against Russian troops. The military says it's retaken the town of Yuruzain in Donyetsk, the first village Ukraine has recaptured since the end of July.

As it pushes south toward the Sea of Azov, Kiev says it's trying to split Russia's occupying forces in half. Reporter Max Handa is in Kiev with what we know so far. Max, what's the latest? Ukraine is making slow progress. Ukraine captured a village this week in a part of the front line where it's probably had the most success of the counteroffensive. It's captured several villages there in the last couple of months, which is obviously good.

Ukraine celebrates every settlement it liberates. However, just to put this into context, the last village to be liberated before the village that was liberated this week was two weeks ago. around that. Now, if you consider that rate of progress to be one village every two weeks, you realize how slowly progress is going and how laborious and effort this is. I mean, Russia's just too well dug in. They had a year to dig in. They constructed very, very strong lines of defences. Is there any gain which would be a turning point for Ukraine? So if Ukraine reaches the Sea of Azob, that will be the turning point in the war at this point. I mean, that would

be devastating for Russia because that would mean that the land bridge to Crimea is cut. But we're really far away from that. I mean, there are other milestones along the way. The town of Tokmark and the city of Melitopol, both on the way to the sea of Azor from where Ukraine currently is, key strategic infrastructural hubs that Ukraine would do very well to capture. However, progress so far on that southern front line has been so slow that, again, Ukraine doesn't even look like reaching Tokmuk the first of those two by the time that it gets cold and it starts snowing. But obviously things could change. The 20,000 residents of Yellowknife have until noon today to evacuate their northern Canadian town.

It's the latest chapter in the country's worst fire season ever. More than a thousand active fires are burning across the country, including 230 in the Northwest Territories. David Younggren is in Ottawa. David, what's the latest? The real challenge is going to be today and tomorrow. Tomorrow is the key point. Tomorrow is the day they fear that the fire is going to reach the outskirts of the city. And once it hits the outskirts of the city, who knows? I mean, in 2016, in Fort McMurray in Alberta, a wildfire ripped through the town, 100,000 people were evacuated, at least 10% of the entire town was destroyed.

So once the fire gets into the town, then I think all bets are off. Why did authorities order a full evacuation three days ahead? Because we are talking about an exceptionally remote part of Canada. I mean, the Northwest Territories is like 1.5 million square kilometers and only has 46,000 people, which means the infrastructure is limited. So they ordered the evacuation of the Illinois because there's only one road you can take out of the city, and that goes to the west and then down to Alberta. So if they'd waited longer, I think the fear would have been that there would have been literally physically no way to get people

out. How bad is this wildfire season compared to the past? These remote areas with lots of forests, so authorities have experienced the fighting fires every season, but this is beyond anything anyone has ever experienced. For example, the previous record wildfire season was in 1989, when a total across all of Canada of 19 million acres burned. So far this season alone, we've had 34 million acres burn and clear the remote comes. England plays Spain on Sunday in the culmination of what's been an historic Women's World Cup. Sports reporter Christian Radnage will be watching in Sydney. Christian, firstly, how's the mood in Australia after the Matilda's loss? Yeah, it was a massive heartbreak for co-host Australia to go out against England. But there's a huge,

amount of pride and love for the Matildas. More than 11 million people watched the semi-final against England. That's the most watched TV events in Australian history. It's been a World Cup of Shocks, hasn't it? I mean, two times champions Germany going out in the group stage, and then, yes, the USA, the reigning champions going out on that penalty shootout to Sweden. And now the coach has resigned, and they've really got to pick them. themselves up quickly because of course they'll want to do well at the Olympics next year.

So there's a big job to be done to replace especially some of those veteran players who will be leaving the squad such as Megan Rapino and finding a way to get back amongst the elite on the world stage. What about the matchup for the final? Despite it being an all-European clash, these are players that are, well, they're the best in the world to have got to this stage. On Spain side, you have two-time Ballandor winner Alexia Putte. The Ballandor is the award given to the best female player in the world.

And she's not played as much, but she's part of the Spain squad that are so technically proficient. They love to dominate possession. But England, the European champions, and every time they've come across adversity in this tournament, whether it's going behind against Colombia, whether it's having a player sent off against Nigeria or conceding that stunning equalizer against Australia, they've come through it with this ruthlessness and strength of character. that is emblematic of the side that Serena Vigman has built over the past couple of years.

So a successful World Cup? Yeah, it's been a huge success. This was the first tournament that it increased to 32 teams. And there's been all sorts of twists and turns and it's just shown the huge amount of quality. In just four years, the increase is spectacular. So it's really helped the game go up another gear. and broadcasters all over the world have paid more sums for it and they've really got value for money, you would say.

That's it for today's episode of Reuters World News. We'll be back tomorrow with a special weekend episode on the people left behind after US-led forces withdrew from Afghanistan. To make sure you know what's going on in the world, listen in for 10 minutes every weekday. And don't forget to subscribe on your favourite podcast player or download the Reuters app. Thank you.