Reuters World News - TikTok crackdown, Ozempic maker’s new pill and Greenland’s Indigenous women

Episode Date: March 8, 2024

The House of Representatives votes next week on legislation that would give China's ByteDance six months to divest from TikTok or face a U.S. ban. The market value of Novo Nordisk soars past Tesla after the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy announces positive early trial data for a new obesity drug. A group of Indigenous women in Greenland is seeking compensation from Denmark over an involuntary birth control campaign Plus, President Biden’s State of the Union speech and the coveted Oscars swag bag. 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, Biden takes on Trump in a fiery state of the union address. Lawmakers push TikTok's Chinese owners to sell their stake or face a U.S. ban. As OZempic maker Novo Nordisk soars past Tesla after trials of another weight loss drug. And the fight for justice on International Women's Day takes us to an indigenous community in Greenland. It's Friday, March 8th. 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. And I'm Christopher Waljester in Chicago. Now my predecessor, a former Republican president tells Putin, quote, do whatever the hell you want. That's a quote. President Biden lashes out at Donald Trump in his State of the Union address. A former president actually said that, bowing down to a Russian leader, I think it's outrageous,

it's dangerous, and it's unacceptable. Biden used the televised speech to make his case for a second term, sparring with Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Green, who heckled him over Lakin Riley, a woman allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant. Lincoln Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal, That's right. But how many of thousands of people being killed by legal?

And under pressure from Democrats over his support for Israel's offensive in Gaza, warning Israel against using aid as a bargaining chip. The leadership of Israel, I say this. Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip. Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority. Biden is directing the U.S. military to build a temporary port. in Gaza to bolster aid to the enclave. A temporary peer will enable a massive increase

in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting in Gaza every day. The port will accommodate large ships carrying food, water, medical supplies, and temporary shelters. Sweden is now officially a member of NATO, joining its neighbor Finland. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has driven both Scandinavian nations to apply.

Voters in Ireland are deciding whether to remove a reference to a woman's life within the home from their constitution. The government is pitching the vote, deliberately being held on International Women's Day, as a chance to delete sexist, old-fashioned language about women. But some advocacy groups are opposed to it over concerns about what it will mean for carers. And a reminder, daylight savings time begins in the U.S. this Sunday. Don't forget to check your clocks and wake up early. The stock price for Wagovi drugmaker Novo Nordisk has hit new record highs,

surpassing Tesla in its market valuation. The latest jump in the Danish company's shares comes after better than expected results from trials of a new experimental weight loss treatment called Amacretan, even though it's years before patients will be able to use it. Joe Mason in London is our European company's editor. Joe, what makes this drug such a big deal? Early trials showed that patients lost 13% of their weight after 12 weeks of taking this pill. Now, that is significant because it's more than double, actually, the amount of weight lost by volunteers who were part of the Wagovi trial.

Ultimately, over the whole course of the Wagovi trial, patients lost 15%. but in those first 12 weeks, they lost 6%. So that's why the market is getting very excited. So this is potentially a big advancement. Is anyone else working on this type of treatment? Yes, in fact, a fellow Danish company called Zeeland Farmer, their shares rose because they have a similar treatment that they are studying. They're much earlier on in the process than Novo Nordisk.

It's also notable that the US drug maker Eli Lilly's shares were down on the news. They have a rival weight loss drug. So the market is interpreting the comments from Novo today as a sign that they really could widen the gap with Lily where there is a competition heating up. More than 100 Inuit women from Greenland, a suing former colonial rule. Denmark for forcing them to have IUDs or coils put in without their consent or knowledge in the 1960s. Some 4.5,000 devices were fitted in women and girls as young as 13. They sought compensation last year, but the state refused to pay out. Reporter Jacob Gronhold Pedersen is in Copenhagen. Jacob, what are these Inuit women telling you? They are telling devastating and

heartbreaking stories really. Most of these women are in their 70s and 80s now and they recall that stories like when they went to school, they were suddenly called into the basement to see a doctor who had come all the way from Denmark. They describe how they felt pressured into doing this. The pain they went through, one woman tells it felt like she was being stabbed with knives. And then they tell the traumas they've gone through by not being able to carry children later in their lives because of the physical impact these fittings had on their bodies. The group failed to get compensation last year because the government wants to wait for an independent investigation. So why are they taking the Danish government to court now? No one even talked about this case until 2017 when one of the women made a post on Facebook about.

about what she had gone through and she asked if there were others with similar experiences. She got a massive response and hundreds of women joined the group. But many of these women are old during their 70s and 80s. And basically they want compensation sooner rather than later. So they went ahead and took the Danish state to court, claiming that their human rights have been violated. A new effort to reign in TikTok is gaining steam in Congress. a House committee approving legislation that gives the Chinese-owned bite dance less than six months

to divest from the app or face a U.S. ban. The bill still needs to pass the full House, and the Senate is looking at a similar measure. We caught our reporter David Shepardson outside the Capitol building. David, how would this work? Aren't opponents of the bill saying it's a violation of free speech? So we back up to August 2020 when then President Trump issued a government. executive order that basically did the exact same thing. But the courts ultimately struck down that executive order and the ban on the basis of free speech. So this bill seeks to go around

those free speech issues by focusing this on national security grounds. Arguing they're not banning TikTok. They're just giving the owner's ultimatum sell or you'd face a ban. Do we have any evidence that China is using the app to spy on Americans? Back in 2020, that was one of the big questions. What is the evidence? Are there intelligence intercepts? Is the Chinese government using the data harvested from 170 million U.S. users and tens of millions of American teenagers?

There's no evidence of that. But the possibility is there that TikTok data could be sent to the Chinese government. TikTok has been adamant for years, including when their CEOs testified before the Hill. They would not and have not ever shared data of American users for the Chinese government. The Biden campaign is now on TikTok. Does that create a weird disconnect? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, they're threading a pretty tough needle here.

They're saying, hey, we're going to reach out to young users by using TikTok. And the other hand, the White House says, this is a national security threat. We want to address it. So, no, I think their argument is, hey, we don't support a ban, we support a sale. And finally, the Oscars are this weekend. Tomorrow we'll devote an entire episode to the pomp and circumstance and go behind the scenes with our entertainment reporters. But if you're one of the lucky few to be nominated, you'll have this to look forward to. This is an ultra-luxury line that sells for about $515.

The Goody Bag. Lash Ferry is founder. of an LA-based marketing company and has put together this Oscar's swag bag for 22 years. We do this independently of the academy, which means I get to decide who gets it, and it's only the top acting and directing nominees.

That's 25 people this year. The swag bag includes nearly 60 items worth over $170,000, ranging from the most expensive. The $50,000 trip to chalet Zermat Peak in the Swiss Alps. to a Rubik's Cube. Companies pay a fee for their spot in the bag, but the exposure to A-less celebrities can be priceless.

They're so famous and their names have such value and such cachet, and that's exactly what they can bring to these products. We'll be back on Monday with our daily headline show. Make sure to listen in for 10 minutes every weekday. And don't forget to like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.