Reuters World News - Russia’s punishment squads, Trump’s real estate peril and more drama on the Hill

Episode Date: October 3, 2023

Russia is deploying punishment squads on the frontlines in Ukraine. What Donald Trump stands to lose in fraud case – and will the Democrats save House Speaker Kevin McCarthy? Plus, market gloom and the Taylor Swift era in NFL roars on. Listen to our weekend special on Big Tech Parts 1 & 2. 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, Republican Matt Gates moves to oust speaker Kevin McCarthy. What Donald Trump stands to lose in the fraud trial against him and his company. Russia uses punishment battalions on the front lines in Ukraine. And Pennsylvania residents say goodbye to their local, beloved, mummy. It's Tuesday, October 3rd. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes. every weekday. I'm Kim Vinal in London. We start in D.C. where Congress averted a shutdown, but the drama in the House rolls on.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2A1 of Rule 9, I rise to give notice of my... Republican Kevin McCarthy's speakership faces a challenge by hardline Republican Matt Gates. So will the Democrats save McCarthy? Reporter Andy Sullivan gives us his quick take on what to expect next. So Gates is trying to force a vote to see whether McCarthy can hold on to his job or not. Now, remember, Republicans control the House by a very narrow majority, 221 to 212. So if only five Republicans vote with Gates, then McCarthy could be out of a job. That's assuming that all Democrats vote to remove McCarthy as well.

They don't like the guy. He's the leader of the Republicans. He's done a number of things that have made them very angry this year. However, they could decide to back him in return for some. sort of concession that could be forcing McCarthy to abandon his effort to push for deep spending cuts or forcing him to drop the impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden or something else. We don't know yet. We'll find out.

Now to the newsmaking headlines around the world. The United Nations Security Council has approved a Kenyan-led security mission to deal with gang violence in Haiti. The resolution authorizes the support mission to quote, take all necessary measures, code for the use of force. Vladimir Putin may soon indicate that he'll take part in a presidential election in March, paving the way for him to stay in power until 2030. The Commissant, one of Russia's most respected newspapers, reported on Tuesday that the declaration could come next month. The Kremlin did not immediately comment.

Microsoft's chief executive, Sachin Adela, has testified that Google's power in online search was so ubiquitous that even his company found it difficult to compete. Such a Nadella is the government's biggest name witness in its landmark antitrust case against Google. If you want to hear more about the future of big tech, check out our special weekend episode. You can find it in our pod feed and in the description for today's episode. And finally, Taylor Swift has knocked it out of the park for the NFL. Don't worry, that was an intentional mixed metaphor. We know our US sports on this show.

The Kansas City Chiefs New York Jets game attended by Swift was the most watched Sunday show since the Super Bowl, with an average of 27 million TV viewers. The singer and her rumored relationship with Chief's tight end Travis Kelsey has sent interest skyrocketing in the Super Bowl champions. It's time for markets now with Carmel Crimmons and Carmel's stocks are having a bad day.

They are. Worries about higher for longer U.S. interest rates are dominating the mood. In fact, Asian shares have dropped their lowest level all year. But there is one stock riding high in Asia, right? It's somewhat unexpected, too. Yes, shares of Evergrand jumped as much as 42% today when it resumed trading. Its stock had been halted last week after it emerged its founder was being investigated. The resumption of trading may have fueled speculation that the company can progress with its

debt restructuring plan. Remember, this is the world's most indebted property developer. But I wouldn't be reading too much into this jump in its stock price. This is a company which has lost about three quarters of its market value since August. So the increase today is really speculative bets on a penny stock. Last week, a New York judge found that Donald Trump is liable for fraud. This week, a civil trial in Manhattan kicks off to determine the penalty. In opening statements, prosecutors said Trump generated more than $100 million by lying about his real estate empire. Entering the court Monday, Trump said he was being politically targeted and attacked the Attorney General's office, as well as the judge in the case. There was never a problem. Everything was perfect. There was no crime. The crime is against me.

Jack Queen was in the courtroom. So Jack, Trump could face some real consequences here. What does he stand to lose? So one of the biggest repercussions of this case was already meted out last week, actually, in an order where the judge presiding over the case found that Trump had committed fraud. And he canceled the business certificates for 10 of these entities that control some of his crown jewels of his portfolio, including Trump Tower and 40 Wall Street in Manhattan. And that means that effectively those businesses are going to cease to operate. The judge said that he would be appointing independent receipts.

to oversee the dissolution of those LLCs. And, of course, Mr. Trump is going to appeal that ruling, according to his lawyers. But the implications of that are very far-reaching, and they could see him lose Trump Tower, 40 Wall Street, some of his other properties as well. And then in the trial itself, New York Attorney General Letitia James, she is seeking at least $250 million in penalties. She also wants to bar Mr. Trump and his two adult sons, Don Jr. and Eric, from ever-serving as directors of a company in New York

and also a five-year ban on acquiring real estate or applying for loans in New York. And all of those are very serious repercussions that would have major implications for Mr. Trump's real estate empire and his ability to do business in the state of New York. As the war grinds on, so does Russia's need for troops on the front line.

A Reuters report out today reveals how drunk recruits, insubordinate soldiers and convicts are being thrown together in units known as Storm Z squads. Christian Lowe is part of the team who worked on the story. So Christian, tell us about these Z squads or Zed squads, as you'd say. So some of them are convicts who were approached by Defence Ministry recruiters in their jails and told if you sign a contract and come and fight in Ukraine, you will be pardoned and your conviction will be wiped off the slate.

So that's some of them. Now, Wagner, the mercenary group, have been doing something pretty similar to that, going into prisons, taking people. The difference here is that what we're talking about is the Defence Ministry doing it. It's become institutionalised practice by the Russian government.

The other contingent, which is something that we discovered and is quite new, is that some of the people who are serving in these squads are actually regular soldiers from the regular army, convicts who, if they commit some sort of disciplinary infraction, as a punishment, they're pulled

into these Storm Zed squads. How are they used? They are sent into the most challenging and difficult and dangerous tasks. They're right at the front line, so they're really taking the brunt of everything, and they're pushed forward into counterattacks. Their losses are extraordinarily high, where the majority of these squads are getting wiped out in a battle. Several people use the term meat.

We are meat. We are being sent into a meat grinder here, and we're being treated like meat. When contacted by Reuters, an officer with one of the units described in the story declined to comment on Storm Z and ended the call. The Kremlin referred Reuters' questions to the Russian Defence Ministry, which didn't respond to a request for comment. You can read more about Storm Z squads on the Reuters app, or Reuters.com. A jazz funeral marches through the streets of Reading, Pennsylvania, to say goodbye to a local

legend. You know, when I was a kid growing up, he was a sideshow freak. My parents and grandparents, they have memories of coming into town and visiting Stone Man Willie. People crave to go see. I saw Stone Man Willie. Stone Man Willie. He's the well-preserved corpse of an alcoholic who died of kidney failure in a local jail in 1895. He's been on display at Oman's funeral home for 128 years, where, according to the home, he was accidentally mummified by a mortician experimenting with new embalming techniques. Now his upcoming burial has become a locally celebrated event. Musician, Jeff Rokul, even wrote a folk song about Willie for the occasion. For 100 years his identity has been a mystery, but the funeral home says it believes it has finally identified

him and will reveal his name when he is properly buried later this week. That's it for today's episode of Reuters World News. We'll be back on Wednesday with our daily news 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.