Reuters World News - Trump-Putin, shutdown paychecks and K Pop Demon Hunters

Episode Date: October 22, 2025

The summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin stalls as Russia digs in. The U.S. shutdown bites with 60,000 federal workers facing missed paychecks. Ex-security chiefs urge Congress to investigate a secretive Trump-linked task force. And Netflix cashes in on the success of KPop Demon Hunters, but fans hoping for toys and games this holiday will have to wait until the new year. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Find the recommended read ⁠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 Kim Vinal in Wanganui, New Zealand. It's Wednesday, October 22nd. Today, a Trump-Putin meeting is put on hold, with Russia refusing to pause fighting for talks. Tens of thousands of federal workers prepare for their first missed paychecks as the government shutdown drags on. And some US consumers continue to spend, despite a general gloomy economic outlook.

This is Reuters' work. world news, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. Planned summit between President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin has been put on hold because Moscow is refusing to pause fighting at the current front lines. I don't want to have a wasted meeting. I don't want to have a wasted time, so I'll see what happens. President Trump speaking in the Oval Office says he's still hopeful a deal can be done, and the meeting meant to take place in Hungary isn't entirely off the table. But as reporter Steve Holland explains,

for Putin, an immediate ceasefire is a big ask, and Trump may not have the leverage. The fighting seems to be kind of frozen along those lines, but Putin does not want to be limited to that amount of territory. Although it does represent a fairly sizable chunk of Ukraine, he wants to be able to go further. He sees Ukraine as part of the Russian Empire, and he wants to be able to take it all, or at least a lot more than he has now. There's also a logistical issue of getting Putin too hungry. I mean, he would have to fly over the airspace of some NATO allies, and there are some parts of Europe where Putin is considered a war criminal, including in Poland, which does not want Putin flying over their airspace.

Steve says President Trump's delay in considering Kiev's request for Tomahawk missiles may be impacting things too. After the president put on hold of the Ukrainian request for Tomahawk missiles last week, Putin saw an opening and decided to not go as hard on diplomacy as Trump would have preferred. Footage captures the moment a kamikaze Russian drone plunges from the sky in Ukraine's Chernihuev region. Russian attacks knocked out power and water for hundreds of thousands of people in the part of a systematic effort to cripple Ukraine's energy grid ahead of winter. The impact of the government shutdown is about to hit home, with tens of thousands of federal workers set to miss their first paycheck. That includes 60,000 TSA officers who keep America's

skies safe, like Neil Gosman. We got a final paycheck last Friday. Gosman's worked at the TSA for over 20 years. He says he and his colleagues have been bracing for this moment. Some of them have borrowed from their retirement account. Some of them have dipped into their savings. Reporter David Shepardson says when paychecks stop, that could finally force action in Washington. Aviation is viewed as the reason the shutdown ended in 2019.

We really haven't seen the full effect of the shutdown yet because controllers haven't missed a full paycheck, but that's coming within days. And I think once that happens, and controllers have to grapple with, do I have enough money to pay for my daycare, pay my mortgage? Do I have to bring my kids to work? What do I tell my supervisor if I can't afford to come to work? Only a small number of controllers calling in sick above normal can really have serious ripple effects through the system. it can really result in a significant reduction air travel. So that's really what we're going to be looking for. How much of an uptick do you see in sick calls once controllers have missed that paycheck?

And how resilient is the system and how much is the public going to demand at that point that something be done, either because they're concerned about safety or because flights are being delayed or canceled? More than 300 former US national security officials are urging Congress to investigate a secretive task force that is helping Donald Trump target his political enemies. The call follows a Reuters investigation that revealed just how coordinated the effort is. The interagency weaponization working group includes officials from the CIA, FBI, Justice Department and others, and has been working to identify and punish figures Trump allies accuse of being part of the so-called deep state. Targets reportedly included Anthony Fauci and former FBI director James Comey. The former officials say the actions of the task force may violate laws meant to keep intelligence work separate from domestic politics.

A Trump nominee to lead a federal watchdog agency has withdrawn from consideration after report surfaced that he once described himself as having a Nazi streak. Paul and Gracia announced his withdrawal in a social media post, saying it's because he doesn't have enough Republican votes to move forward. Senate Majority Leader John Thune had called on the White House to pull the nomination, a rare sign of opposition to Trump in the Republican-controlled Senate. Netflix is cashing in on the huge success of K-pop demon hunters with toys, collectibles, and games. But if you want one for the holidays, you are out of life.

luck. Mattel and Hasbro says they won't be related to ship until the new year. Mattel is betting that even with the delay, shoppers will keep spending, holding its outlook steady even after falling short on third quarter earnings. Early consumer earnings reports are saying the same thing, with businesses predicting that despite lower income households struggling, the wealthier will continue to spend. Here's US business editor, David Gaffin. It's been well documented that U.S. consumer spending increasingly relies on a smaller and smaller subset of the actual U.S. consumer. We have reached a point now where about 10% of all U.S. consumers account for about half of our spending. It wasn't like that 25 years ago. It was closer to a third.

And so you see right now a real bifurcation. You see the divergence between those who are more under pressure and then the wealthier countries. consumer, they're still dealing with inflation, but it's not quite the same. And so as a result, consumer spending data has held up very, very strong, even though consumer sentiment figures have been consistently lousy. People continue to see the current situation as leak. They don't think that the future holds out much hope either, and they're very worried about inflation. And yet, the spending continues to roll along and along because the people who are comprising the primary primarily the most of spending in this country are still doing reasonably well.

Warner Bros Discovery has rejected a nearly $60 billion takeover bid from Paramount Skydance. The company's board rejected the mostly cash offer of nearly $24 a share. Warner Bros, whose assets include film and TV studios, CNN and HBO Max, is now weighing its options, including a full sale or a planned split to separate its growing. streaming business from its struggling cable networks. OpenAI has unveiled its long-awaited web browser in a direct challenge to Google Chrome's dominance. It's called ChatGPT Atlas and is an attempt to capitalize on the 800 million weekly active chat GPT users.

It could accelerate a broader shift toward AI-driven search as users want tools that synthesize as opposed to search using keywords. And for today's recommended read, the music now coming from Taiwan's war tunnels, built at the height of the Cold War to shelter the island's supply boats from China, they're now echoing with the sounds of cellos and violins. There's a link to that story in today's pod description. 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 favourite podcast player. If you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news from Royters.

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