Reuters World News - Todd Blanche, yen intervention and Russian holidays

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hi, I'm Kim Vinal in Wanganui, New Zealand. It's Monday, August 3rd. Today, Japan and Washington take joint action on the yen to try and stop its slide to 40-year lows. How the US's decades-old support for Israel is impacting the Democrats. And on Russia's holiday coast, Reuters finds fuel shortages, falling visitors, and growing anxiety. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. But first, we have some breaking news. For more, here's my colleague Tara Oaks. Thanks, Kim. Acting U.S. Attorney General, Todd Blanche, has officially terminated President Donald Trump's so-called anti-weaponization fund. It paves the way for Blanche's confirmation ahead of a key Senate committee vote on Tuesday after Republican senators' stormed.

Starting point is 00:01:07 his nomination of the concerns about the fund. A spokesperson for one of those senators, John Cornyn, has confirmed the agreement. You can read more about this developing story on Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Now back to Kim for more of the latest news. Japan's finance minister, Setsuki Katayama, confirming Tokyo and the US, have carried out a coordinated yen buying intervention. It's a rare move to try and stop the yen slide to fresh 40-year lows and stop that from causing global spillover. So what does it all mean?

Starting point is 00:01:49 Here's Mike Dolan from our sister podcast Morningbid. Yeah, it's an extraordinary move by US and Japanese authorities to intervene jointly to prop up the Yaling yen. It was at 40-year lows last week, which if you're a tourist going to Japan, that makes it a very attractive destination and has done for many. people, but for Japanese people, it's very unpopular. It's inflationary, particularly at a time when oil prices are rising, and the Japanese themselves have been trying to stabilize the end for sometimes on their own. So why is the US joined them? Well, the rising dollar is not good for US trade with Japan, and there is a concern that it gets and destabilizes world financial markets generally. So I think the US has joined and has spent at least some money, not as much to be.

Starting point is 00:02:37 as the Japanese have done, but it is a signaling mechanism to show the market that this isn't a one-way ticket, that there is a risk to going short of the yen at this particular juncture. Does it matter? Is there spillover effects? There is a risk that Japan sells dollars, and in doing so liquidate some of its U.S. Treasury's biggest overseas creditor. But there is a mechanism that the U.S. has agreed with Japan, that they can recycle some of those dollars without doing so. So we'll see how that pans out. But in a historic moment.

Starting point is 00:03:12 Thanks, Mike. You can catch morning bid wherever you get your podcasts. US President Donald Trump says negotiations with Iran will restart this afternoon. Speaking on board Air Force One, Trump says he was asked to hold off on renewed attacks, which he said would have been the biggest since World War II. I was asked by Saudi Arabia, by UAE, and by Qatar. and by Iran. We were all set to go, just about at this time right now, and it would have been a massive attack. It's unclear what form the renewed negotiations will take, and Trump has declined to set a deadline for an agreement. And the reason they asked is, I think there's a deal.

Starting point is 00:03:57 There's a deal on hormones, and then there will be a deal on the nuclear, or you might call it the denuclearization of Iran. Iran's official news agency reported on Sunday that negotiations between Tehran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz are in their final stages. In Teuta, Spanish police, some holding batons and riot shields, chase a group of migrants in an apparent effort to disperse them. The group who were carrying an injured man drop him so they can run. The man lying, shaking uncontrollably on a blanket, is eventually attended to by police. It's been a few days since more than 50,000 people surged into the Spanish enclave of Teutte from Morocco, some by jumping fences, others by swimming. Dozens were killed.

Starting point is 00:04:53 All bar a few thousand have since returned, citing hunger, exhaustion and hostility from locals. Spanish far-right party Vox has seized on the incident, with leader Santiago Abascal visiting Teuta. Beuta. Telling media, Spain is facing an invasion. Madrid has adopted a more open stance on migrants compared to the rest of the EU, introducing a program to grant residency to more than half a million undocumented people. The EU is set to hold an emergency meeting of national ministers on Tuesday. Elsewhere in Europe, wildfires are pushing firefighters to the brink. In Greece, two firefighters.

Starting point is 00:05:37 Helicopters collided while helping to control a huge blaze that's destroyed more than 100 homes northwest of Athens, killing two people. The U.S. is also facing devastating wildfires. In Washington state, hundreds of homes and businesses have been destroyed. Some 60,000 people have been told to evacuate as wildfires threaten the city of Spokane. There are three separate blazes in the Spokane area, which burned more than 5,000 acres. by Sunday. None of the fires are currently contained. We make things just for college life, like the Rosenmandel blackout curtains in gray. They say you can't put a price on sleep, but we did for the low, low price of $49.99.

Starting point is 00:06:32 Why are you in my room? Shh, go back to sleep. You have a big exam tomorrow. Shop back to school at IKEA. Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza for a second straight day Sunday, killing at least 18 Palestinians, according to medics. That's despite President Donald Trump's announcement of a breakthrough in efforts to implement last year's ceasefire agreement. Meanwhile, in the US, a growing divide over Israel is in the spotlight, playing out in the Democratic Senate primary in Michigan. Younger Democrats are pushing for a tougher stance on Israel.

Starting point is 00:07:16 Israel since the war in Gaza. And that's challenging both progressive candidate, Abdul al-Said, and moderate congresswoman Haley Stevens, who are running to replace retiring senator Gary Peters. Here's congressional reporter Richard Cowan. Arguably, this will be the most interesting and biggest test of the strength of progressives who have really latched on to the, in a really emotional and substantive way, have latched on to the issue of Israel and how they're making it an important part of their campaigns. There is a large Arab American population in Michigan. It's mostly clustered around the Detroit

Starting point is 00:07:59 metropolitan area. There's also a very active, you know, in those same neighborhoods and same parts of Michigan, an active, dedicated Jewish community. What we have in this Democratic primary, are two candidates coming from very different directions. Experts that we've talked to are saying, this is not just some sort of passing thing that there's a sort of a cute slogan that people run on and it goes away. This goes deeper.

Starting point is 00:08:31 They're saying no matter what, it looks like the Democratic Party is going to pivot. In the fifth summer of the Ukraine war, Russians are having to contend with widespread gasoline shortages and the risk of drone attacks as they planned their annual break in the sun. The uncertainty is taking its toll on the travel and leisure sector. Nika Kutsieva visited the Black Sea coast to find out more. We drove 200 kilometres along the Black Sea coast and spent five days

Starting point is 00:09:01 finding out how the conflict is taking at all on the country's tourists, their holidays and the travel industry. What we discovered was a sense of unease showing how some Russians have long tried to ignore is now almost impossible to escape. About 1 million bookings in Russia and ex-Kremia her council at the end of June was about $320 million, according to industry data. And tourism-related business owners are feeling disquoise. One place where the tourism industry is feeling the pinch is the major resort city of Annapa in the Krasnodar region. Anton Siderov owns a restaurant there and decided not to open at all this year, as the

Starting point is 00:09:44 The visitor numbers just aren't what they hoped for. Now, now, for, Nika says that's a trend across many hotels and restaurants there. We spoke with dozens of tourists and local business owners. And the main, a maybe most

Starting point is 00:10:00 striking idea that emerged from those conversations is there are so much difficulties. There is a huge fatigue, there is a huge desire for stability. But at the same time, the life goes on. The summer is.

Starting point is 00:10:14 in a full swing, the holiday season will soon be over. 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 favorite 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.

Reuters World News - Todd Blanche, yen intervention and Russian holidays

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