Reuters World News - Portland deployment, Ukraine, Iran, Moldova and Fat Bear Week

Episode Date: September 28, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump orders military deployment to Portland, Oregon, directing troops to protect ICE facilities from what he calls "domestic terrorists". Russia launches a large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukraine. The UN reinstates sweeping sanctions on Iran. Moldovan voters head to the polls. Plus, a dinosaur’s deadly last meal and the final days of Fat Bear Week. Listen to On Assignment ⁠here⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠here⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠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, Trump orders troops to deploy to Portland. Russia launches a major missile and drone attack on Ukraine. The UN reinstate sanctions on Iran. Plus, the dinosaur who regretted his last meal and the final days to vote in Fat Bear Week. It's Sunday, September 28. 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 Tara Oaks in Liverpool. US President Donald Trump has ordered military deployment to Portland, Oregon, directing troops

to protect federal immigration facilities against what he calls domestic terrorists. Trump has authorized the use of full force if necessary and told Defense Secretary Pete Hexeth to provide troops to protect, quote, war-ravaged Portland and ice facilities. he says are under siege from Antifa and other groups. Portland Mayor Keith Wilson has pushed back, saying the number of necessary troops is zero. Data shows that violent crime in the city has actually dropped so far in 2025. Heavy drone and missile attacks have hit Ukraine's capital, Kiev.

It's one of the biggest attacks since the war began, according to independent monitors. emergency services in the early hours dowsing the shells of destroyed cars with water. One man carrying his dog into the remains of his apartment, now littered with glass and debris. Several other regions were also hit by strikes, and neighbouring Poland has closed airspace near two southeastern cities and scrambled fighter jets in response. Staying in the region, citizens of Moldova, a former Soviet state tucked in southwest of Ukraine, head to the polls today to elect a new parliament. It's a test for the ruling party, which has been pushing for greater integration with the European Union.

But, as our Europe special correspondent Christian Lowe reports, Moldovan officials worry that outside influence could impact the election. What we discovered in our reporting is that over several months last year, Moldovan priests had been travelling to Russia on all expenses paid excursions, trips that were billed as pilgrimages. They did visit holy sites, but they also hooked up with some people who had nothing to do with the church. They were representatives, as we found, of the ruling party in Russia, United Russia, and a kind of sister organization called People's Front. Those people gave them instructions about how to set up social media platforms when they got home to Moldova to spread the word to their parishioners about the dangers of integration with Europe. What they also did while they were in Russia was hand them bank cards.

On those cards, money was transferred a short while after they got back to Moldova. We tracked a real kind of explosion of Russian Orthodox Church parishes in Moldova, setting up telegram channels around the time that they were. these trips to Russia ended. We found that some of the people who were involved in administrating and supplying the content for these channels were actually the same group of people who were the handlers in Moscow connected to United Russia and to the People's Front. The Kremlin denies meddling in Moldova's elections. We've got a response from the chief Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov. He said that

Russia never interferes in other countries' internal affairs and condemns anyone who does that. They said that it's up to the Moldovan people. Christian says that Moldova's population is incredibly divided on the direction the country should take. Moldova is a country that's really finely balanced. There are a bunch of people in Moldova who really are keen to join the European Union, but equally there are people who are hesitant about it and have brought into the message that if you join the European Union, then it means that your traditional cultural values could be under threat.

The Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow, as well as the Orthodox Church in Moldova, didn't respond to requests for comment on this story. The United Nations has reinstated sweeping sanctions on Iran. This includes an arms embargo after Britain, France and Germany accused Tehran of breaching a decade-old nuclear deal, aimed at stopping it from developing a nuclear bomb. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and is recalling its ambassadors to those countries for consultations, warning of a harsh response. Russia has disputed the return of UN sanctions on Iran.

The sound of thousands of people at a rally held by Tamil actor Vijay, before a stampede broke out, leaving over 30 dead and at least 50 injured. Medeos released by his party, Tamil-Gavertri Kazagam, show crowds surrounding a campaign vehicle, on top of which VJ is seen speaking. Vijay has been one of Tamil cinema's most bankable actors for three decades, and he's drawn massive crowds to his public meetings since launching his political party. He's campaigning ahead of state elections set for early 2026. After news of a stampede, BJ posted on X, My Heart is Broken.

Now it's Sunday, and here in Britain, That's an excuse for the traditional Sunday roast, a gargantuan plate of food. But take heed not to overindulch with this cautionary tale of a dinosaur who didn't take the time to chew. Will Dunham explains. Argentina's Patagonia region has been a treasure trove for dinosaur fossils, and another important one has now been unearthed there. It's a new species of meat-eating dinosaur named Joaquin Raptor. This dinosaur lived 67 million years ago, that's close to the very end of the age of dinosaurs.

It was about 23 feet long, that's 7 meters, and weighed roughly one ton. It walked on two legs, had an elongated skull and long arms with wicked sickle-shaped claws. But let me tell you what gave Joaquin Raptor real street cred. When the researchers unearthed the fossil in Patagonia, the dinosaur still had it in its jaws, the severed leg of a crocodile. So it appears that crocs were on the menu for the sky. The researcher speculates that the dinosaur died while choking on this big gulp of crock. Joaquin Raptor was part of a group of meat-eating dinosaurs called Megaraptorans.

They inhabited South America, Asia, and Australia. What's intriguing is that while they were apex predators, they were built very differently from the apex predators that lived at the same time in North America. So T-Rex, the baddest of them all, had a massive skull and huge teeth, but pathetic little arms and two comical fingers. Tyrannosaurus used bone-crushing bite strength to kill prey, but the Megaraptrons use a different technique. They apparently did their dirty work with their long arms and sharp claws. So it just goes to show there's more than one way to build an awesome killer dinosaur. Rest in peace, my greedy dinosaur friend.

But really, winter is coming and it's time to eat up. A nice layer of fat can keep you warm and safe. Just as the Bears of Fat Bear Week. It's an annual celebration of the fattest brown bears in Alaska's Catmine National Park. For seven days, wildlife fans submit online votes in a playoff style competition for their favorite chunky champion. Katmai's bears are among the biggest in the world and can grow to well-eastern. over £1,000 from summer feasting, thanks to the abundant amount of salmon that swim in the local river system.

Boating recommences tomorrow in the final brackets before the winner is crowned on September 30th. And for today's recommended read, the latest story from our culture current series. This week, speaking to Leslie Odom Jr., about 10 years of Hamilton. You don't have to wait for it, read the interview by clicking the link. in the pod 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, and 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.