Reuters World News - Red Sea force, China quake, Texas migrants and Southwest's record fine

Episode Date: December 19, 2023

The United States is leading efforts to safeguard commerce in the Red Sea. Texas is to arrest migrants suspected of crossing the border illegally under a new state law. Southwest Airlines’ record penalty over holiday meltdown. Plus, deadly China earthquake, Apple faces US watch ban and going on a hot date in a California ice bath.  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, the US launches a push to safeguard the Red Sea after multiple attacks. Abbott signs a law allowing Texas to arrest migrants. Southwest's holiday meltdown penalty is a warning shot for the rest of the industry. And, want a hot date in California? Try an ice bath. It's Tuesday, December 19th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes. Every weekday.

criminal in Dublin. The United States is leading an effort to protect ships in the Red Sea from attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels. Here's Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. So in the Red Sea, we're leading a multinational maritime task force to uphold the bedrock principle of freedom of navigation. Iran's support for Houthi attacks on commercial vessels must stop. The Houthis have been targeting vessels with drones and missiles since the outbreak of the war in Gaza. And it's disrupting global trade, as major shipping firms re-root to avoid attack. Houthi official Muhammad Abdul Salaman told Reuters the group would continue its attacks.

Phil Stewart is with Austin in Bahrain. One of the big questions about Operation Prosperity Guardian and about U.S. and allied naval activities in general is whether they will actually deter Houthi attacks. The Houthis have been quite busy over the past month. They've attacked or seized merchant vessels 12 times. And those vessels have links to countries all over the world. maybe some 40 countries have been directly or indirectly affected by these attacks by the Houthis who have launched drones and missiles from Yemen into the Red Sea, the southern Red Sea,

which is an area that basically is kind of like the stretch between Washington, D.C. and Boston. So you're talking about a very long strip of very vital seawaters that are crucial for international trade. And as the Houthis try to impose costs on the international community, and what they say is a protest over Israel actions in Gaza, the U.S. is responding and trying to create deterrence. But the big question is whether or not that response also kind of ratches up tensions or has the deterrent effect. There is the risk, of course,

that these carefully calibrated moves on both sides just raise the risk of perhaps an inadvertent conflict. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed a law allowing state law enforcement to arrest migrants who enter the state illegally. It will give local officers powers long delegated to federal authorities and sets the stage for a showdown with the U.S. government. Migrants who cross illegally can already be charged with illegal entry or re-entry under federal laws.

But Abbott has sharply criticized President Biden for failing to enforce them. Biden's deliberate inaction has left Texas to fin for itself. The Supreme Court in 2012 struck down parts of a similar Arizona law, including a provision that allowed state officers to arrest people, suspected of being in the US illegally. People fleeing a restaurant in northern China as a 6.2 magnitude earthquake hits. At least 100 have been killed

and hundreds more injured. The quake's splintered buildings and triggered landslides. Rescuers are searching for survivors but icy conditions are making things difficult. China is in the throes of a powerful cold snap with sub-zero temperatures. A large volcano has erupted in Iceland spewing lava and smoke

after weeks of intense earthquake activity. Authorities say the lab appears to have flowed away from the only town in the area, offering hope that homes will be spared. A federal judge has ordered a halt to the removal of a Confederate monument at Arlington Cemetery, shortly after Army crews began to dismantle it. The temporary restraining order was requested by a group called Defence Arlington. It had accused the Pentagon of rushing its decision to remove the monument and skirting federal environmental law. Actor Jonathan Majors has been found guilty of assault and harassment for attacking his ex-girlfriend in the back of a car.

Marvel Studios has dropped majors. He had been set to play the leading role in an upcoming Marvel superhero film. The Vatican has said that Catholic priests can administer blessings to same-sex couples, as long as they're not part of regular church rituals or liturgies. The move is the most definitive step yet by Pope Francis to make the church more welcoming to LGBTQ Catholics.

To markets now, and could there be a run on sales of Apple's smartwatches this week? The company is pausing sales of its flagship smartwatches online starting on Thursday and at retail locations on Christmas Eve. The halt is due to a patent case that Apple lost a couple of months ago. It's over the technology those smartwatches used to detect people's pulse rate. The International Trade Commission found that several Apple smartwatches infringed patents held by Massimo, a medical tech company in California. And unless the White House intervenes,

a ban on Apple importing its Series 9 and Ultra 2 smart watches into the US will take effect on December 26. The federal government has hit Southwest Airlines with a historic fine over last year's holiday meltdown that left 2 million passengers stranded. But the airline's not just having to fork out $140 million in a penalty. For the next three years, it will also have to pay a $75 travel voucher to anyone delayed for three hours or more. David Chepardson covers airline industry regulation in D.C. David, how might this penalty impact the airline industry as a whole?

I think all the airlines are watching this Southwest. penalty pretty closely. And I think the lesson for the industry is if you have a meltdown, if you have a major issue, the transportation department is going to give you credit for moving quickly to help consumers. So in the case of this penalty, Southwest is getting a $33 million credit for giving hundreds of thousands of passengers who are stranded free frequent fire, rapid reward points that are worth $300 per person in addition to paying over $600 million in compensation for people who were stranded and had to final the ways home. But it's not clear yet whether we're going to see the entire industry follow Southwest and voluntarily agreeing

to some sort of voucher compensation for delays, which unlike Europe, U.S. carriers are not required to do currently. Is this part of a push by the Biden administration for more accountability for airlines? Absolutely. I mean, this is the first step. In October of 2022, the Biden administration went to all of the major airlines and said, would you be willing voluntarily to pay $100 in cash compensation or some other compensation to travelers who were delayed by at least three hours? And they all said no. And there is some question about whether the administration has the legal authority to mandate that compensation. But the Southwest, program is really part of what's been a pretty aggressive effort by the administration to seek sweeping consumer protection enhancements for airline passengers. And for those of you counting on that $75 if you get delayed this holiday season, don't. The compensation program will start by April of next year.

That's the sound of ice bat speed dating in Southern California. Whatever feels best, but the goal is to fully submerge. Two random people slide into a small tub of 37-degree Fahrenheit water for three minutes, while getting to know each other. He's making us easier. He's like, my eyes are beautiful. I'm good. They're like bluish-green. That's Whitney Hancock and Dustin Stewart.

I was surprised at how present that we could actually be with each other and how kind he was, even though we were both in, like, pain. It was help having each other to calm one another down. It was kind of a very push-pull, but it went by really quick for me. I loved it. Cassidy, the co-founder of the Icebreaker event, says he knows of a few couples that have gone on second dates after they've thought out. That's it for today's episode of Reuters World News. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show. 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 favorite podcast player or download the Reuters app.