Reuters World News - ICE raids, Pope's movie meetup and Japan’s ‘muscle girls’

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hi, I'm Christopher Wal Jasper in Chicago. It's Sunday, November 16th. Today, Trump's immigration crackdown turns to Charlotte, North Carolina. The Pope meets with Hollywood stars and filmmakers, calling for art that inspires hope in a time of digital overload. In Mexico, Gen Z protesters demand the government do more to address rising violence. And we visit a bar in Tokyo that's upending Japan's beauty, norms.

Starting point is 00:00:31 This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. Federal immigration agents have turned their focus to Charlotte, North Carolina. Raids have begun in the city, expanding the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration to the U.S. South. The Department of Homeland Security says the operation was sparked after state officials refused to detain suspects sought by immigration authorities. Charlotte's mayor, Vi Lylez, a Democrat, urged residents to seek help, including from

Starting point is 00:01:13 local police departments, which are not participating in the raids. President Donald Trump has bought at least $82 million in corporate and municipal bonds from late August to early October. That's according to new financial disclosures. The investments include sectors that benefit from his policies. including chip makers, tech companies, retail chains, and Wall Street banks. The White House hasn't responded to a request for comment on these disclosures, but the administration has said that neither Trump nor his family has a role in running the portfolio,

Starting point is 00:01:52 now managed by a third-party financial institution. Thousands protest across Mexico, denouncing rising violence after the killing of an anti-crime mayor earlier this month. A group calling itself Generation Z Mexico says it represents youth that are fed up with violence and corruption. In Mexico City, hooded demonstrators tore down fences near the National Palace that sparked clashes with riot police who fired tear gas. The violence injured 100 officers, hospitalizing 40, according to Mexico City's public safety secretary. At least 20 civilians were hurt. Protesters are chanting out Morena, targeting the ruling party led by President Claudia

Starting point is 00:02:43 Scheinbaum. Her government is pushing back, saying the marches were driven by right-wing opponents and amplified by social media bots. Pope Leo hosted Hollywood celebrities and directors at the Vatican on Saturday. He offered a message that struggling movie theaters and the film industry, could be a source of hope in a world increasingly dominated by algorithms and digital overload. Hollywood star Kate Blanchett says his words are a real charge to tackle tough stories, and director Spike Lee handed the Pope a Nix jersey stamped with Pope Leo the 14th.

Starting point is 00:03:27 While the Pope is weighing in on the film industry, this week's episode of our podcast On Assignment examines Trump's legal strategy against media outlets, most recently the BBC. It explores the BBC's unique role in British society and what pressure from Trump means for press freedom on both sides of the Atlantic. There's a link to that episode in today's show notes. Chileans head to the polls today. Top of mind for voters, crime and a recent surge in immigration. Our reporter Alex Vigas went to Chile's northern news. border with Bolivia, where hundreds of thousands of migrants from Venezuela and other parts of

Starting point is 00:04:14 Latin America have crossed in recent years. I met a woman, Josalie Garcia, who is a llama farmer, whose llama grazed freely on both sides of the border. But after this kind of large wave of migration happened, there was lots of break-ins. There was this murder of an 85-year-old. indigenous Imara woman that kind of shook the town. So a lot of people there are now worried about crime, kind of like the majority of Chileans leading up to Sunday's election. And with that influx of immigrants, organized crime has also established a larger presence in the country. The Venezuelan prison gang,

Starting point is 00:04:56 Thren Daragua, kind of expanded into South America after trafficking migrants. They started going deeper into Chile. These new organized crime groups brought a new level of criminality into Chile. And despite this uptick, Chile, it's still one of the safest countries in Latin America. But from a low of 2.3 murders per 100,000 in 2015, it's gone up to six as of last year. The number of kidnappings reached a peak in 2024 of over 800. So this is kind of given a rise to a number of right-wing candidates with kind of extreme proposals like building border walls, border trenches, electric fences along the borders. there's one proposal to place landmines across the border.

Starting point is 00:05:37 So far, the leader would be Jose Antonio Caste from the far-right Republican Party, who has always been consistent about his security measures and the border, which is now kind of drawn an appeal from voters. Janet Hara is the current leftist government's coalition candidate. She's the favorite in the polls right now, but no candidate is expected to get more than 50%. Chile is also feeling the effects of climate change, and it's hitting one of its best-known exports, wine. Vineyards worldwide are struggling with extreme weather. Doughts, heat waves, and heavy rains

Starting point is 00:06:15 are making harvests unpredictable. Our reporter, Sebil de la Mered, covers commodities and says the story isn't just about supplies. Demand for wine has also fallen. Lao output can be very difficult for winemakers and some regions. But if you look at it a bit further up and from a macroeconomic perspective, it's a positive thing because it really makes sure that production and consumption, which has been waning and with less demand in China, for example, that production and consumption are more or less aligned. Sebel says that these weather swings could open the door for other regions. Some countries are going to emerge.

Starting point is 00:07:00 England, Sweden, Denmark are good examples. I mean, they weren't famous for wine in the past, but warmer summers have made it possible for vineyards to flourish. So for wine lovers, this could mean that we're going to see more variety and the types of wine available, but also that some favorite wines like Bordeaux or champagne are going to become harder to find. For years,

Starting point is 00:07:27 Such gangs have turned ATM explosions into a business model, driving into Germany in the dead of night, blowing up cash machines and racing home on the Autobahn. Senior correspondent Tom Sims is based in Frankfurt and says stopping these heists has taken cross-border cooperation and some creative moves by banks. The banks have actually installed only recently ink cartridges that explode and make the bills unusable. And this might sound very simple, but it's affected if they lock the lobbies around ATMs in the middle of the night when many of these crimes occur. The police around Frankfurt have developed a special risk analysis tool, which gauges the probability of an attack based on a couple of variables like location or make of the machine. But even with Germany cracking down, the gangs are now crossing into Austria, where the use of cash is even more common. In Tokyo, there's a bar that's turning heads and crushing stereotypes.

Starting point is 00:08:37 Customers are greeted by women showing off rippling biceps and toned abs. Our senior photographer Kim Kung-Hun visited the bar and says it's challenging Japan's long-held beauty norms. When you walk in, you will see the woman with strong and defined muscles. And customers, when they sit down, they start by drinking a cup of protein. And the women go on stage and they're dancing and flexing their muscles. The women, they crush a whole grapefruit with their bare hand and then squeeze the juice into a cup to make a fresh drink right in front of the customers. In Japan, the beauty norm for women has been the same for a long time. So, singing those kinds of women showing a power and competitive.

Starting point is 00:09:29 in their body on stage, I think that's really stand out in Japan. And for today's recommended read, the publisher who first said yes to Harry Potter sat down with Reuters to reflect on the legacy of the series, the future of storytelling, and why children's books still matter. We'll drop a link to that story in today's show 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 favorite podcast player. If you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news from Reuters, seven days a week.

Starting point is 00:10:10 We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.

Reuters World News - ICE raids, Pope's movie meetup and Japan’s ‘muscle girls’

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