Reuters World News - Saudi Aramco crash, Venezuela shortages and Bauhaus culture wars

Episode Date: June 28, 2026

A Saudi Aramco helicopter crash has killed 14 nationals, the state news agency says. Venezuelans decry shortages of heavy equipment and a limited official presence as the earthquake death toll tops 1,400. Iran and the U.S. continue their attacks in the Gulf, fraying an increasingly precarious interim deal. Temperature records are shattered in Europe as a deadly heatwave moves east. And how Bauhaus design is being targeted by the far right in Germany. Watch Pitchside here. Listen to On Assignment podcast here and see the Climate Monitor here. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠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

Hi, I'm Tara Oaks in Liverpool. It's Sunday, June 28. Today, Venezuela's call for more heavy machinery as the earthquake death toll tops 1400. Escalating attacks and recriminations rock the Iran-U.S. Peace deal. Serbia's President Vutic says he'll step down after months of protests. And how the far right in Germany are targeting Bauhaus design. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week.

First to some developing news. A helicopter belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco has crashed on Saudi Arabia's eastern coast on the Gulf, that's west of the Strait of Hormuz, killing 14 nationals. That's according to the state news agency who say that the cause was unknown. and another separate crash, this one in France, with officials saying 11 people were killed when a plane belonging to a parachuter school crashed in the northeastern town of Tomlien. For the latest on these stories,

head to vautors.com or the Reuters app. US search and rescue teams working with local firefighters pull a baby and his mother from the rubble in Venezuela. Both were found alive with only minor injuries and were brought to safety. The rescue comes as the death toll from Venezuela's twin earthquakes rose above 1,400. Foreign rescue teams have been arriving and fanning out across the country as authorities continue searching for survivors in the hardest-hit areas.

Families and volunteers were spent days pulling survivors and bodies from the debris, often citing a lack of heavy equipment and limited official presence. Anna Anceta, whose relative is among the missing, says the sheer volume of debris has overwhelmed workers operating without mechanical support. Officials say more than 1,600 foreign rescuers have arrived, with additional teams expected. Iran and the United States have continued their attacks in the Gulf, each accusing the other of violating an increasingly precarious interim deal

to end their four-month-old war. Iran early on Sunday launched missiles and drones on US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain, continuing a series of escalating attacks. The US military said earlier it had struck Iran again, hours after a tanker was hit, administrative Hormuz, with President Donald Trump warning on social media that the US might, quote, be forced to militarily complete the job. In the World Cup, Iran's hopes of reaching the knockout phase for the first time came to an agonizing end,

after Austria's last gasp equalizer against Algeria. Now, the round of 32 is set, with Lionel Messi becoming the first player to score in seven consecutive World Cup matches. after an hour on the bench, as Argentina seek to defend the title they won last tournament. For more on the buzz on and off the pitch, listen to our World Cup podcast Pitchside, available wherever you get your pots. Temperature records have been shattered in Europe as a deadly heat wave moves east, with police in Berlin deploying water cannons in the city to lightly spray people trying to cool down. The soaring temperatures are moving away from Western Europe, having killed dozens and impacted

everything from schools to hospitals to transport to Paris Fashion Week. The world's biggest brands were in the French capital to display their new menswear collections during the sweltering heat. And the catwalk that got everyone's attention, Louis Vuitton's models walking in front of a giant waterfall. The set has drawn scrutiny, but the fashion house insists. no water was wasted. Luxury correspondent Tasilo Hummel explains. This is an unprecedented heatwave for many people. Many, many, many people living in Paris

in their tiny apartment have air conditions. I mean, the picture of a giant waterfall in the middle of a heat wave was just remarkable in a way, even though, I mean, one has to say, LVMH in general, in Louis Vito in particular, they are a leader, I think one can say in sustainability issues. So they, of course, did have a concept in place to prevent water waste and to recycle the materials from the fashion shows. Tassolosa says everyone working at the events is given extra water and rest breaks to help cope in the heat. The fashion industry is not particularly known for easy working conditions, and I think this is particularly challenging.

But at the same time, Fashion Week is just such an important moment for these brands. It's a culmination of months of work. So it has to work. Serbian president Alexander Vucic, saying he will resign within weeks, and the country will hold early elections after 18 months of anti-government protests, triggered by the collapse of an awning at a railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad in 2024, in which 16 people died. But Vucic is unlikely to depart from the political stage,

as his resignation could pave the way for him to become Prime Minister if his party triumphs in parliamentary elections, continuing a long trend in which the power in Serbia follows Vucic, regardless of his title. Ed McAllister explains his longevity. Well, first of all, he's been around a long time, back to the days of the 1990s under Slovadoam Milosevic, he formed a strongman who end up being on trial for war crimes amongst other charges.

He was the communications operator back then. But since he's come under power in 2012, he has overseen a huge change in Serbia. There's no doubt about it. When he came in, the economy was in a bad way. Unemployment was very high. There was very low foreign investment. he's cultivated relations with China, with Russia, living standards have improved. He has held power as either Prime Minister or President since 2014, and before that as Deputy

Prime Minister. He knows his way around. He has huge support, both in Parliament and in his party, and on the streets as well, despite the recent protests. Ed says it's not yet clear how the student. population behind the recent protests could influence the political opposition. They have become figureheads of this opposition movement, this protest movement. And while the opposition in Parliament is kind of struggles, doesn't have much power, Voucher's party has a strong majority, outside of the parliament, the students have become really, really powerful and quite a threat. And they see themselves as one of the reasons

why Vichich is deciding to step down. But the big question now is can the students and the opposition in Parliament work together to either create a situation where they can nominate the new president or whether they can form a party that can be really strong in parliament against Vichich? That's the big question. Germany's iconic Bauhaus design movement, known for sleek modernist architecture and furniture, has become a target in the country's culture wars. Banned under the Nazis, its sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernou

were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in the 90s. Now, the far-right alternative for Germany, or AFD party leading polls ahead of September's state election, are promising what they call a new patriotic cultural policy that singles out Bauhaus as representing rootless globalisation. James McKenzie in Berlin explains. When you look around, you know, office furniture, home furniture, the sort of tubular steel chairs that you see everywhere,

that's an inheritance of Bauhaus, people's kitchens, coffee machines, lamps, everything, completely sort of under that influence from back in the 1920s. One of the paradoxical things about it is that Bauhaus is sort of, it's one of the most recognizable term, you know, German terms. There is outside Germany. And, you know, perhaps the fact that it is so kind of influential internationally is one of the things that, you know, people in the AFD don't like about it because they see it as a sort of deracinated form of design and architecture. It's not attached to place. It's not attached to sort of local traditions and so on. So they, you know, they just see it as a kind of instrument of globalization. And it's kind of ironic because one of the early priorities, of the Bauhaus movement was in fact the use of traditional craftsmanship and so on, but in a different

way, they are very attached to this notion of sort of old traditions of Germany. They don't like to emphasize, yeah, things from the 20th century. Bauhaus was really a very essentially 20th century kind of movement, and that's just not part of the vision of Germany that the AFT holds. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't get followers on your favourite podcast player. 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.